My New Life
by Sakura Bontecou Kobayashi
Summary: Mouri Ran just moved to Beika, Japan. What happens when she gets there? My new version of Detective Conan. Might have a few similar categories with some others. Slight fluff but mostly drama.
1. Chapter 1

My New Life

_A Diary_

_Monday morning, school bathroom, a few minutes before class_

First day of the new school can only be described as one word: scary. But it's not like I've never been in a new school before. I _have_ many times already. But this time, it feels different, like there's a reason I'm in this school. But I'm not sure what.

"Ran, hurry up, you don't want to be late today." Said my mom.

I growled and said, "I'm never late." And I walked out of my room to eat breakfast.

I live with my mother, ever since she got into a fight 7 years ago with my dad, and we parted. I chose to stay with my mom while visiting my dad every few weeks. I'm surprised that they're not divorcing, though.

She's a lawyer and is very thriving, but she likes moving to different places once in a while, I wonder how she can still keep her job even so.

It was still pretty early in the morning but my mom prefers to always get in front of time, not right on it. But since I still had about half an hour before I go to school, I decided to go around for a while when I'm walking. My mom agreed and I finished my breakfast then walked out the door with my school bag.

I live in a small city called Beika in Japan. It's called a city but there aren't many cars on the road, most are busses, which is a good thing since I don't like all the honking in the big cities like Tokyo. I live in a big, white house near the park, which is almost right next to the high school I'm going. Teitan High School it's called. I stepped out in the cool morning air and inhaled, smelling the fresh scent of blooming flowers along the road. I felt happy.

I looked around from the porch of my house and over the trees that surrounded the yard, but some were too tall to look over. But I did see a figure of a roof over the left part of the yard; a big, gray house it was and I was surprised by its size. The people living there are the closest neighbors around, but I never met the owner of it. I looked at my watch, 7:30, it showed and I have to get to school by 8. It takes about 10 minutes to get there but I also need to go there early and meet my classroom teacher. _That_ was annoying. And it only leaves me 10 minutes to enjoy the morning.

Stupid have-to-go-early school.

I opened the gate of my house and left the building, a chill of freedom went up my spine as I walked down the side-walk of the road. I strolled over to the park and walked over the grass. It was still wet from the damp morning air but the field was all empty. It was good since I never really liked crowds.

But parks have always been a happy place to be for me. I had many good memories there. I remember I use to entertain myself in front of hundreds of people and watch them laugh; we all seemed so happy back then. But my mom just keeps moving everywhere and I had to follow her, making new friends wherever I go. The last place I went was a great place. It was a small town in central Japan but I don't have a _clue_ of how to get back there. I've been quite popular then. Actually, one of the most popular people in town since I was a wonderful singer. _And_ I'm good at karate.

But all the memories have to be erased and they need to be filled up with new ones. I'm starting a new life here. Wish it's going to be good.

I skipped over the grass which is a quite foolish thing to do for 14-year olds. But I liked it. I started my way to the school and glanced around. It was almost empty and completely silent, save for some sounds on the playground where some boys were playing soccer. Some of them are really good. I walked through the gates and entered the building, almost losing my way to the teacher's office.

I knocked on the door and heard someone say "come in" before I stepped in the office. I made sure I was quiet and crept into the room where an elderly teacher greeted me with opened arms.

"Oh, you're early. But that's good. Come, come, sit. I want to explain to you some typical rules about this place. My name is Mrs. Kachiwa and I'll be you're teacher for the year." I shook her hand. "Welcome, Mouri Ran."


	2. Chapter 2

After school, school bathroom, right before karate class

Okay, I don't have too much time right now so gotta right this quick.

Anyway, the teacher led me to the hall outside of the classroom and told me to wait. I did.

"Quiet class, I want to introduce the new student now, so I want you all to behave." I heard my teacher say through the closed door of my new classroom. Then I heard some hushes and a few whispers. A few seconds later, the teacher opened the door and said, "Come in now." and I slowly walked in.

The whispers grew louder as I walked towards my teacher's table and I wasn't sure why. Did I look bad or something? I was worried.

My teacher wrote a few words on the board and I looked at the ground, not realizing that some people were whispering, "She's so pretty" to others. I did blush for some reason.

"I would like you all to welcome Mouri Ran our new friend and let her feel at home. So none of you _misbehave_." Her last words were punctuated with a few chuckles by others. "Ran, would you like to introduce anything about yourself?"

I looked up at her, then I turned towards the students who were staring at me with wondered eyes. I tensed.

"You don't have to if you don't want." She chuckled as a few people grumbled and sat back in their seats with half-moon eyes. "Just make yourself happy. There's an empty seat over there, you may be seated." She pointed to a seat next to the window, which is also next to a girl with dirty-blonde hair and blue eyes.

I walked over to the desk and set my back-pack on it. The girl was staring at me. "I hope we could be friends!" She smiled and I smiled back.

The first class I had was Algebra, which is _way_ too easy for me. I've always been in the talented math class since I was small. But the short-haired girl next to me seemed to have a bit of a problem on it; her tongue was even sticking out on one side as she was trying to figure out the answer for a problem.

I sighed.

The next class was health—the class I hated the most. Last year in my old school we were talking about under-age sexual activity. Exactly! Gross!

Then, it was science, another class I'm good at. But I also wondered if there _was_ any class that I had problems on. Not to be bragging or anything.

Finally, the first part of the day ended and it was time for lunch. A time when I'm finally free from all those piece-of-cakes. I started packing my things up so it'll look neater, while all the others came gathering over to talk to me.

"Where'd you come from?"

"How old are you?"

"Got any interests lately? Hee hee."

"Now, now everyone." The girl who was sitting next to me pushed in, "Don't make her feel squished by snuggling too near to her, okay? And stop talking to her like she's some kind of an alien." I stared. "How 'bout we give her some of her own time?" And she started pushing everyone away. I felt relieved.

When everyone stopped grumbling and walked away, the girl sighed and mumbled "finally" with moon eyes as I smiled and thanked her.

"Oh, no problem, I always enjoyed helping people." She waved her hand as she opened her eyes all the way. "Especially new ones." And she grabbed my hand. "I _was_ a new one before _you_ came." She winked and pulled me out of the room.

Her name was Suzuki Sonoko, 15, and is a millionaire's daughter of the city. She just moved in a few months before me (it's the second trimester now). She's quite popular since she was so rich, but she doesn't seem like a miss because of the way she acts and the way she talks. She seems to be the same as me, minus the richer part.

We made a lot of conversations and after lunch we already became good friends. She's really friendly but she seems a little over-obsessed with boys.

"So, have you met anyone interesting lately?" she smirked.

"Boys, you mean?" She nodded. "Well, no, I only just came."

"Oh, don't worry though, I'm sure you'll meet someone you like, there are plenty of hotties in this school." She winked at me and I shuttered.

"How 'bout you?" I asked.

"Many. They're all _major_ hotties, I don't think I'll live without them." She folded her hands together and looked up at the sky with dreamy eyes. "I just wished that there is somebody that's _just_ right for me and loves me the way I do for him." I shook myself and kept staring at her. But she didn't look at me; she only glanced at the sky. I sighed. My new friend is a boy-maniac.

The school bell rang and it was time for our afternoon classes. The two of us darted through the crowds of students and entered our rooms, but I didn't notice that there were thousands of folded papers that were stuffed in my drawer. I heard my jaw crash onto the floor when I saw the scene, along with Sonoko's crazy laughs.

"Whoa, first day of school and you became so popular. Ha ha." I felt blood rush onto my cheeks. "You'd better clean it up though." She stopped laughing and whispered in my ear, "The teachers get mad when they see so much paper in your desk." And she started helping me by taking the letters out and throwing them in the recycle bin. I felt much better by then. But I also wondered; what's wrong with all these people? I'm only and new student. Hello?

I just hope that this same thing won't happen twice. Or more.

Ah! I'm going to be late for karate!


	3. Chapter 3

Friday. At home. 9 o'clock

Well, I've been having a lot of fun in school by now; it's already been a week. I'm having a wonderful time with Sonoko and we became really well friends, _every_one is like my friend now, except for a few.

My favorite classes, as usual, are music; P.E.; English; math (which I'm now in the G&T) and the best: after school karate class. I _love_ karate.

There are a few boys who are a bit over me now, they all talk to me like they knew me since forever. I was beginning to wonder if they're trying to stock me. Ugh.

I've joined the tennis and volleyball club since they all _forced_ me to go in the team. I couldn't say no. But everyone has been very nice to me and my coach was thinking about informing me as the team leader. I refused. He got mad.

"Why, Ran? You are the _best_ one we've had in _years_! If you're the captain of the karate team and volleyball team _and_ the tennis team, you'll be a champion!"

"I'm too busy to be a champion in sports right now." I said. Which is true 'cause I have to study for SAT in order to go into a better college. I have to worry about karate 'cause that's the thing I've been _dreaming_ to do for years (and practiced for years). I've got too many things in my mind. Another important thing is between my mom and dad. I want to get them back together again.

"But, Ran! The team needs you! You need to help them!"

"I can help them. I'm not saying that I'm quitting out of the team. I'd love to be with you guys, but I don't want to worry too much on these things right now." I gave him a pleading smile and he sighed.

"All right." He surrendered. "But _promise_ me you'll still be with us." I nodded and he smiled. Saying the last 'goodbye' before walking out of my sight. This is the third time so far – that the teachers asked me to join a more advanced group. My P.E. teacher even wanted me to join the cheerleading club. I immediately said no.

Oh well, so far so good. I'm just wishing that my mom wouldn't move to another town again. I'm getting tired of moving. But she didn't seem to have that thought.

Yet.


	4. Chapter 4

A week before School concert day, yay! School bathroom

It's almost New Years Day and we're having a concert in our school. Anyone is allowed to sing on stage, like a talent show in my old school. I always put my name on the list for singing; I joined the chorus at school and became my music teacher's favorite student. I always was, anyway.

Sonoko is now my best friend and she helped me pick out some songs. She never heard me sing though, only my music teacher knows since I don't want to make a fuss about it, I want to save the exciting things for the last.

She chose an English song by Taylor Swift because I went to America before and learned some very smooth English. Some people even thought I was an American since I sort of look like one, too.

I practiced for about a week and I totally got my hands on it. I didn't let Sonoko hear me sing though, she'll start bragging about it and it won't end too well, 'cause I know she'll start matching me up with some guy. I don't really want that.

Finally, the week for the concert. I gave the lyrics and song to the music players and they said that this will be wonderful. My music teacher even started to jump.

"I _know_ you'll be the best this year, Ran." She said to me. "And maybe next year, you'll be the home-coming queen!" I grinned at the idea.

It's been the 2nd month since I came to this school and I made friends with almost every one in my grade. Well, not the popular girls and the jocks of course, I don't want to get mixed with them. But they seem to like to bother me.

"So, Mouri Ran, huh?" Kadochi Karen, the most 'popular' girl in school said to me one day. "I heard that you entered the New Years concert?" The girl's with her smirked.

One girl said, "You'll never be better than _her_ you know?" Meaning Caren. "She's _always_ been voted the best singer for the past 3 years. And the school queen!"

"I didn't enter this concert for _competition_." I said and the girls shut their mouths. "I'm doing it for fun."

"Well, _have_ fun!" Caren said and walked pass me. "But don't enjoy too much when they throw food at your face." And her sentence was punctuated by a laugh. But I only sighed and walked away, ignoring the fact that Kodachi's stare was boring through my back.

"_What _is_ with all these people?"_


	5. Chapter 5

Tuesday. Three days after the concert. Bathroom. Grr.

Finally, recess, got some time to write.

Anyway, the day passed fast and it was time for them to announce the 'winner' or 'pop star' of the year.

I was excited. I mean, of course I wanted to win, but I didn't over act so I stayed calm while Sonoko clutched my arm so tightly that it turned red. But I didn't blame her.

I never exactly thought about winning, and I never prepared for it either. But yes, I won. They said my name and Sonoko started pushing me upstage. I was a bit dumfounded to talk at that time and all I could do is stutter. But no one blamed me. Phew.

So I took the trophy and everything turned bright blue, like I'm in heaven. So I~kinda forgot about what happened next. I was too concerned about what happened at the end of the day.

It was almost dark and almost everyone is getting ready to leave the school, except for some people who stayed after to talk to me and congratulate me.

While I was talking to a friend, I heard a scream, a terrified woman's scream, and we all paused to look at her with shocked eyes.

She was _horrified_, she seemed like she saw someone die. Which was exactly what she saw. I pushed through the crowd to get a better look while some others were backing away. I saw a hand in a puddle of red liquid and yelped. It _was_, as I saw, a dead body in the middle of the floor and it belonged to a middle aged man who helped put up the stage for the concert.

Some of my friends pushed behind me and wept. My mom walked over next to me.

"What happened?" She asked and I shrugged.

"No clue," I answered and looked back at the scene.

There were a few more screams and a few minutes later there were siren sounds. But a bit before that, I saw a boy's figure appear in the middle of the scene. He was checking the dead body. But I got sent away a while later and everyone was out of the scene except for a few people who had to be asked. So I rode home with my mom and a few of my friends.

Okay, I've gotta go again. The bell just ringed.


	6. Chapter 6

Thursday. A few minutes before heading to school.

The bad news is that someone died at _school _and there were rumors going around saying that who killed who and why. But I never bothered to believe them. The good news is that my dad came to investigate and I don't have to go and see him. He'll also be staying at my house for a couple of days and hopefully, he and mom can get together again. But that's a bit too impossible.

This morning when I woke up I heard them yelling at each other, speaking nonsense and arguing about some stupid small things.

"Pancake doesn't go with sugar, how gross!" I heard my mom say. "No wonder you keep gaining weight."

"Your pancake doesn't even _have_ any flavor, and you didn't even _add_ any sugar in the pancakes!" My dad said. "You know that our body needs sugar!"

"Sugar makes you _fat_. And besides, why don't you use syrup or even honey? Those things at least don't make you _fat_!"

And they keep arguing and arguing while I dressed up and washed myself. They finally stopped when I got down in the kitchen.

"Sweetie, you're going to be late." My mom said as my dad gave me a wave. "Chop, chop now, hurry and leave."

"I'm never late you know." I mumbled and my mom put her hands on her hips.

"You will be if you don't hurry up." She said and walked over to the sink to clean the dishes.

"How's the case going?" I asked my dad who is reading the daily newspaper. A piece of pancake was dangling out one side of his mouth.

"It was okay." He muffled and took out the pancake from his mouth. "I've been working on it with the genius high-schooled boy. He's in you're school."

"There's a detective in my school?" I asked. Never heard of him before.

"Yeah. His name is – oh what was it? Oh yes, Kudo Shinichi, son of the famous writer Kudo Yuusaku. You've heard of _him_ right?"

"Kudo Yuusaku? Of course! He's one of my favorite mystery writers!" I heard my mom grunt when I said the word 'mystery'. I ignored her.

"Well, yeah. He's working on the case and solved most of it. Now he's only missing the proof." He flipped a page of his newspaper. "I'm meeting him tonight at the police station."

"Can I come?' I asked and he looked at me.

"Why? Only to see the Kudo guy? No, it's not worth it. And besides, he goes to your school."

"He's in another class and I probably only go to P.E. with him (everyone in the grade goes to the same P.E. class)." I'm not sure if I go to any other classes with him. Maybe in the talented class but he probably ignores me. I know if it's him if he talks to me, but ~ guess he doesn't.

"Then that's not my problem." My dad says and flips another page. I wonder if he's really looking. "And besides, you're too young for a relationship."

"14? That's young?"

"He's probably older than you." (I'm pretty young for my grade.)

"So? Probably a year. That's not a lot."

"No."

"Why?"

He stared at me and I didn't say a word. "He's a geek," Well, _that_'s nice.

"That doesn't mean I can't _meet_ him."

"Talk to him at school. I'm not bringing my daughter to the police station. You don't know anything anyway."

"I know more than _you_ do." I mumbled and my dad glared at me.

"What~?"

"Nothing." I said and sat back in my chair. Then I sighed and finished my breakfast, and went back in my bedroom to write. Fathers are always the most difficult people.


	7. Chapter 7

After school and karate at home. Life is so difficult.

Many students were kept after school to get checked by the police. Except for a few. I, in the case, wasn't kept back.

The murder is all over the news and everyone in school is talking about it. Sonoko kept complaining that it is very irritating. Which, of course, it is.

There are a few others who weren't checked. Sonoko wasn't. A boy who was in the concert wasn't. And...there was another boy who passed by me who wasn't checked.

It was right before karate class. I forgot my gi at home so I had to go home and get it. Just when I was walking around a corner, a boy my age ran by as I stepped aside for him to pass. He was in a big hurry.

I turned to look at him before he completely passed by and caught a smile. He felt very familiar, but I'm sure I've never met him.

I smiled back at him before he completely disappeared, knowing that he might not have seen it. He wasn't very muscular, yet he had a very manly build. And he was definitely not bad looking.

I know, I'm turning sicker and sicker every day. So sad.

Mom still isn't home from school so I just cooked dinner and now I'm waiting for her. But everything I'm thinking about right now is that boy. He felt so familiar...

Oh! Mom's home!

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_I'm sorry about writing so short chapters, but there's still a lot of chapters so please wait! I hoped you guess all liked it, though, and PLEAZ review!!!! Thank you, all readers!!!_


	8. Chapter 8

Friday, Afterschool. On the playground.

The case is solved!!!

The Kudo guy solved it last night and caught the murderer!

And now there's a rumor about him in school! Which must've been completely annoying for him.

Last night at about 10, my dad came home; looking tired and told me that the case is solved by the genius detective. I was surprised and happy, I couldn't wait for my dad to tell me the story, but he was too tired and he said he'll tell me today when I get home. I agreed and sent him to his room. My mom congratulated him and my dad said 'thanks', that was probably the first time they've been nice to each other in _years_.

And now when I got to school there's already been a rumor. About the polices and my dad, but mostly about Kudo Shinichi. His picture is posted on the newspaper which is hung on the school wall. It turned out that this boy was the one who ran pass me afterschool yesterday. No wonder he was in hurry last night. Also, it turns out that he is captain of the Teitan soccer team.

This morning when I was walking down the hall, I heard people whispering, "You know, I heard that Kudo is a spy from America or something." I stared into space afterwards.

These people are just so strange.

All the girls in school started writing love letters to him and he seemed a bit upset since when I walked passed him in the hall, he looked troubled but embarrassed at the same time. It was quite funny so I stared and laughed, but he didn't see me looking at him.

Kodachi even broke up with her boyfriend to get along with Kudo, but he totally ignored her. In fact, he ignored every girl who was trying to flirt with him. I was satisfied by his reactions.

The whole day passed and everyone left. Kudo-kun was picked up by somebody while all the other girls were chasing after the car. He probably just wanted to get away from them.

It turned out he wasn't living with his parents, both of them went to Hollywood to either act or write. It seems pretty funny of how this family turned out, I was surprised by how mature he is and how he could live by himself. Can he cook? Because most of the boys in my school don't know how to cook, it's not surprising.

Now that's he so famous, I _really_ want to know why he wasn't when I just transferred here. I mean, of course, almost everyone wants to be famous, so why doesn't he? The police force is even _paying _him to solve cases! Even though I think it's kinda stupid since catching a murderer is a right thing to do from the beginning. And even though this sounds stupid, but _I_ also think that he might be some kind of secret spy. It is _so_ secret that if he'd tell, he would be fired and die because of misery.

Okay, minus the dying part.

But whatever.


	9. Chapter 9

_Monday. Before bedtime. On my bed of course._

I talked with Kudo-kun today. I know, surprising, right?

It was just before karate class, I was walking around at the soccer field with Sonoko (I don't really know why) as she went 'sight-seeing' after she promised me to buy some ice-cream. It was really hot this afternoon for spring! Our walking speed was...let me think...about 0.4 miles an hour since she kept on stopping to look at the soccer players running around. She was waving madly at them, and I was too embarrassed to see if they're waving back.

"Don't you just love the way they run, Ran?" She asked me without taking her eyes of the players. "I mean, they're like wild horses that are galloping against the wind. Really _hot_ horses, I have to add!" I could tell by her tone that she was smiling.

Feeling hotter, I looked around nervously, trying to spot any character that was staring at us as if we're a comedy show. Surprisingly, there was barely anyone there, and even the one's that _were_ there were looking at the group of boys. To be exact, one _particular_ boy.

"Can we just _please_ go now, Sonoko?!" I begged. "I just want to get some ice-cream and go to karate class _before_ it gets dark!"

"Aw, come on, Ran. Just look at them, don't you just love it?" Obviously, my answer is 'no'. "Oh, looks like they're leaving though."

"Maybe we should, too!" I suggested, taking her arm and tried to pull her away from her glued spot. Unsurprisingly, she pulled back her arm and used to it point at someone, her eyes were as big disco-balls. "Look! It's him! It's him!"

Sighing, I looked at the figure she was pointing at and narrowed my eyes so I can see clearly under the piercing sunlight. He looked familiar. _Really _familiar. Oh right~him.

"Kudo Shinichi?" I asked as she turned around to beam at me.

"Yeah! He's the captain of the soccer team!" She said enthusiastically, jumping a bit. "And he's going to be mine! Ohohohohoho!" I sweat-dropped.

"Fine then, go and introduce yourself so you can get turned down like all the other girls!" I said, imitating her devotion and dreamy eyes. "How fun could _that_ be?" I stopped playing Sonoko.

"Hey! How 'bout _you_ go?" She suddenly asked. I jumped about a mile.

"What?!" I demanded. "Why would I do something like that?" Sonoko grinned at me.

"Oh, come on Ran! I mean, you two are _perfect_ for each other!" _Perfect?_ "The captain of the soccer team? The karate champion at Teitan high? You two are totally _made_ for each other!" _Made for each other?_

"Wha-how?!" I asked. Why was it so _hot_ today? "I don't even _know_ him! I mean, I know he's a genius detective and all–"

"Ha! You said 'genius'!" She snapped at me, the sign of and epiphany. I just looked at her quizzically. "Oh, just bear with me here! You two would get along great! And besides, doesn't your father work for the police?"

"Um, what does that have to do with–?"

"And your mom went to the same school with his mom?"

"How was I suppose to know th–?"

"And–"

"Okay, fine, I'll introduce myself!" I said, giving up. Wait, _why did I give up??_ "But don't make me do anything stupid!"

"Fine, that's easy to do!" Sonoko said, smirking. I suddenly had the urge to run away from her.

Eventually, I was paying too much attention on our conversation that I didn't see Kudo-kun coming this way. Sonoko did, not surprising, and she showed me that by pushing me, right towards his approaching body. I yelped as I was sent through the air.

Although she is shaped like a regular stick figure of a school girl, she was still the most athletic girl there is. After all the bag-carrying, she was able to have super-human arms that could send anyone ,that has a figure like me, right through the air. I was glad I was sent towards Shinichi, the knight of shining armor, or else, I would've just collapsed with the person like a 100 lb bomb with an ant-hole. Kudo-kun caught me right before I fell on my face and I was staring at his soccer shoes while he steadied me. Even though my heart was pounding in my ears, I could still hear Sonoko giggle and say, "Have fun, Ran!" and run away. Curse my best friend. Kudo-kun's scent was really familiar, it reminded me of my father in a way. Was it just my brain?

"Uh, are you okay?" I heard him say. His voice still sounded a bit young since he still hasn't really matured yet. He was the same age as me! But I could still tell by the tone of his sound that he was like his father, a mystery guy.

"Yeah. Yes, I'm fine." I answered, standing up and brushing off imaginary dirt off my gi. "Sorry about my friend back there. She's a bit...you know."

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine." He answered, chuckling nervously. "Um, nice to meet you?"

Feeling more nervous than ever, I looked at him, realizing my clumsy mistake and introduced myself. "I'm Mouri Ran." I hesitated. "You're...Kudo Shinichi, right? I've heard a lot about you."

"Uh oh." He said, masking a worried face. "Good things, I hope." I giggled, giving him the response that he wanted.

"World famous detective with unpredictable skill; best soccer player of Teitan High and son of famous mystery writer, Kudo Yusaku?"

"Guilty. I was forced!" He said, jokingly raising both his hands up next to his head. "But, you...Mouri Ran, you're quite well-known, too. Karate champ of Teitan high, pop-star of the year and daughter of police officer, Mouri Kogoro? I worked with him."

"Waddya know? The devil made me do it!" I shrugged innocently, playing my lips into a devilish smile. We both laughed at our childlessness and he looked around for just a second and returned his full attention back on me.

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to get some ice-cream later?" He asked casually, none of us really noticed anything wrong with that question. "It must be pretty hot under that gi." He said, pointing to my uniform.

"Yeah, it sure is." I agreed and pulled on my white pants. "And it's so hot this spring."

"I'm dying to get some!" He said, making a dramatic sound during his complaint. "How 'bout we get some now? Then maybe you could tell me what else the devil made you do?" He grinned evilly, but I only returned him an innocent smile and stuck my tongue out at him. Then he glared at me playfully.

Suddenly, like he was struck, he jolted up and looked over my head to stare at a figure behind me. I turned around and saw a boy leaning against the railing, emerald eyes shone under dark skin. A mysterious figure with a built like Shinichi and he too handled soccer ball. Reaching out a hand, Shinichi raised his hand up and shouted a demand to him.

"Hey, Hattori! Toss me a towel, would you?" So he was Hattori Heiji, detective of the west, and much like Shinichi, he as a big fan of soccer, too. Smirking, the boy stared at him mischievously, but in the end, he threw a blue towel at Shinichi and kicked the ball up so it'll end up in his hands.

"You still up for a game, Kudo?" He asked, obviously knowing the answer.

"Oh, I'm always ready to beat you, Hattori." Shinichi grinned, drying some sweat from his hair. Hattori-kun smirked and turned to the soccer field with the ball under his arm and his head held high. Looking guilty, Shinichi turned to me and said, "Sorry, I'm gonna need another time with the ice-cream. I forgot that I promised to meet Hattori today and I don't see him often."

"Oh, that's fine," I said, giving a wave of my hand, although I had to admit, I was disappointed. "We're in the same grade anyway so there's always time, right?"

"Yeah." He said, and threw the towel to the ground. I stared at it quizzically. "Better go now, Hattori isn't a really patient guy."

"Go do you're thing, detective." I told him encouragingly and waved as he said a last 'see you' before stepping out of my sight. I still wanted to talk to him though.

Wait, who was that guy with the phone standing next to us?


	10. Chapter 10

Tuesday evening. School bathroom, again.

I woke up a bit earlier this morning, not really knowing why. I got ready for school and headed there before class started. I've never been this early and never went to school before they let us in (the school gates were opened but students weren't allowed in the building until 8:10), but I had a _very_ strange feeling about today, though.

As I expected, a lot of students were waiting outside of the school building and was waiting for the teachers to open the door, all of them were chatting casually before I entered the school gates. When I walked in the school grounds, almost everyone turned silent and was looking at me. Most of them were girls.

I felt shocked and scared at the same time, wondering if I done anything wrong to make them all stare at me. I walked slowly towards the school and tried to avoid everyone's looks. All the girls had _very_ unique and different looks then the boys. Some had jealousy; some had admiring; some looked thoughtful while some others looked like I won a lottery. Which I did just a few weeks ago, but it was only about 100 bucks, but whatever.

I was walking slowly and silently when Sonoko suddenly popped out of nowhere and grabbed my hands.

"Ran! You're early! How are you this morning?" I stared at her. "What?" She asked innocently.

"How do you _think_?" I whispered and pushed her to the door. "Everyone is staring at me and _I have no idea why._" The last words where spoken with a hiss.

"Oh, chill out, Ran." She said and patted me on the shoulder. "How can they _not_ stare at you when _you_ are asked _out_ by the world known _Kudo Shinichi_?" I blinked at her.

"Asked out?" I asked, "Since when was I asked out by Kudo-kun?"

"Oh, did you forget?" She asked and nudged me with her elbow. "Yesterday he asked you out for ice cream!"

"That's not considered as being asked out!" I hissed. "He was just suggesting it because it was so hot!"

"Oh, don't be so _embarrassed_." She wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Admit it, he asked you out."

"I'm not going to admit _anything_ that is not true." I said and pushed her away. One reason is that the school teacher opened the door and everyone started flushing in like water in a toilet. "He did _not_ ask me out!"

Sonoko didn't argue back this time but just shook her head, although she still had this mischievous and creepy smile on her face.

School started and class began. The first two classes were great and everything went on normally, except for a few girl's who asked me how I got Shinichi to ask me out.

The third class was P.E., which is the only class I had with Shinichi. I hope he's not annoyed by the rumor, and especially, _not by me_.

We all rushed out on the field and gathered there, all wondering what we were going to do for the class. I was talking with Sonoko and teasing each other about our uniforms when Shinichi suddenly walked behind me and smiled.

"Uh, hey, Ran-san?" He looked a bit embarrassed as he scratched his head. I heard Sonoko's jaw drop along with some gasps from the other girls. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

I was a bit surprised to speak but I still managed to make a nod and followed him where no one can hear us talk. Although, I did hear a few people whispering, "He _never_ talks to girls." I blushed, but not enough for people to see. I was a bit worried though, is he gonna ask me something like, "What's with the rumors?" or "What did you say?" But I need to focus on being calm when I talk to him.

He finally stopped when we got to the point where no one can hear us speaking and turned to look at me. He looked a bit amused and worried at the same time. "Um, sorry about the _rumors_." He said and made a gesture with his two fingers. "I hope you're not annoyed." He smiled a bit.

I looked around nervously and shrugged my shoulders. "Oh, it's—not much of a problem." I made a nervous laugh. "Um, at least _you_'re not annoyed."

"Oh, I _am_ annoyed if _you_ are." He looked serious now. "I'm already use to these yaks but I just don't hope that it makes other people uncomfortable." I smiled at him. "I _really_ hope you're not _mad_ at me or anything."

"Why would I?" I felt a bit like bursting. "It's not like it's your fault that there's rumors around. I'm sure that _you're_ not the one who started it."

"I would _never_ do such thing!" He said and held one of his hands in front of him. "Remember the boy that was standing near us? I'm pretty sure it was him who started it since he wasn't really talking to anyone on the phone." Oh~right, he _wasn't_ talking at all...

"Oh," I said and felt stupid 'cause I wasn't paying attention to anyone around us at that time. Except for Hattori, but I'm sure that it wasn't him. "Right," I nodded and looked at my feet.  
"So, you're not mad?"

"No! Of course not!" I looked back at him again and he looked relieved. "Never will. _Really_."

"Well, that's good news." He sighed and smiled at me. "And for showing my apologies, we can go and get some ice cream _tomorrow_ if you like. I've got violin classes today." His smile broadened and my soul soared. He always makes me do that when he smiles. Especially at _me_.

"Cool, that's a good idea!" I said and chuckled at the same time. "It's a hot spring anyway."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow after school at the gate if that's okay?" He asked and I nodded. "Cool. Nice. So, uh… see you then." I nodded again and we headed back to the class, smiling at each other while the others greeted us with opened mouths. It's kinda funny to see a _group _of people looking at us with their jaws open.

"What did he say?" My group of friends all came gathering around me while Shinichi's other friends surrounded him. "Did he ask you out again?" I saw him smile at me again in the crowd one more time and then our teacher came over, separating Shinichi and me away from the others so we could breathe. His smile at that time was one of the most _charming_ grins I've ever seen in my life.

Can't wait for tomorrow!

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_Thank you everyone who's reading this story, hope you all liked it so far. But please please PLEASE review, I really want to know what you think, and I don't care if it's something bad, I just want to know if you want me to change anything. And if any of you have read my other story, 'A cardcaptor's life', please review that one too, I really like comments! :) Thanks y'all!_


	11. Chapter 11

Wednesday, after Shinichi sent me home. My heart's still pounding.

Shinichi was late.

Not _too_ late since we were still at school.

He was having a bit of trouble getting through the crowd of girls when the school bell rang and he's been trying to run pass them to get to me. But, he was still caught and didn't manage to get himself out too well. I couldn't blame him.

He was panting when he reached the gate and rested one of his arms on the wall next to me. I gave him a handkerchief and he took it to wipe the sweat on his head after thanking me.

"These people," he breathed, "are trying to," he breathed again, "kill me!" And then he continued wiping his forehead.

I chuckled and he looked up at me. Then I stopped laughing but couldn't stop myself from smiling. "Sorry." I said and he kept panting. "But I guess that's one of the worst things you can imagine from being so famous."

"Yeah," he finally stopped panting and leaned against the wall, "but sometimes there's worst."

"There is?" I was a bit surprised to hear that.

"Yeah. Sometimes I get some threatening letters from some past murderers telling me not to do this detective job, but I just ignored them."

"Won't you get hurt?"

"Nah." He smiled and folded the handkerchief. "I never do, really, unless I'm doing a dangerous case." Then he looked around to see if there are more girls. "We'd better go incase there are more girls again." I agreed and we started heading our way to get ice cream.

It was indeed a hot day as we have imagined and Shinichi was fanning himself with his hand. We talked the whole way to the ice cream store, about him and me. He told me that he wasn't so famous in school before because he kept—him being a detective—a secret incase it makes trouble in school. He was trying _not_ to get himself too famous so all the girls and reporters are after him, but he didn't succeed in doing that. Now that there was a murder in school and everyone knows who he is, he can't really keep it as a secret. I felt really bad for him.

When we got to the best ice cream in town, he took out his wallet and said to me, "What would you like?"

"You don't have to pay for me, you know?" I said and he raised one of his eyebrows.

"Hey, I asked _you_ out so _I_'m paying." He said and turned to order his flavor. I was a bit shocked.

"Ask me out?" I mentally said to myself, "Did he just say 'ask me out'?"

"Hey!" He shook me and I looked at him. "What flavor do you want?" He smiled with amused eyes. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." I said and swallowed, then I looked at the ice cream menu. "Um…I'd like a strawberry and vanilla sundae please." The man nodded.

When we got our orders and paid the bills, Shinichi asked me about my likes.

"Do you always get strawberry mixed with vanilla stuff?" He said and licked his over-sized cone. I took a bite out of my sundae.

"Yeah. This flavor is my favorite." He nodded as if he knew.

"I've always loved mint flavored ice cream with a bit of chocolate. It's been my favorite since I was 5."

"How old are you now?" I asked and he thought for a moment. "You don't remember how _old_ you are?"

"Well, I do." He shrugged and thought for another second. "I'm just, not too sure." I choked.

"Hey, hey. Are you okay?" He laughed a bit while patting my back. I stopped choking a few seconds after.

"I'm just a little bit surprised since you don't remember how old you are."

"I'm 15." He said and was looking sure. "Almost, anyway. My parents left last year…Yeah."

I nodded and took another bite. "When is you're birthday? Do you know?" I teased and he gave me a look.

"Of course I do." He said and paused. "Somewhere—in May?" I shook my head.

"You really put too many thoughts in these _investigations_." He gave me another look. "I think you should rest."

"I _am_ resting." He said and raised his ice cream. Meaning that eating ice cream is part of getting away from work. I sighed and we continued walking.

It turned out that we are neighbors. He lived in the gigantic house across a street next to mine and has been living there since he was born. The house looked new but yet the style looks old. He said that it is haunted.

"Haunted?" I asked and he gave me an amused look. "How can you live in a house that's _haunted?_"

"Well, _because_ there are ghosts in there, I thought that living there might be cool and maybe I can catch the monsters some day." He then leaned closer to me. "Did you know that most of the ghosts in haunted mansions eat girls? There was this saying that an old couple's young daughter went in that house and disappeared. She never came out again." He gave me a devilish smile and I shivered.

"Very funny, Kudo-kun." I looked at my sundae.

"It's true! That's why I started living there. And call me 'Shinichi'."

"You lived there since you were born...Shinichi." I added the last part after a small smirk.

"Exactly. That's why I was born there." He smiled then looked at me again. "So remember, if you come to my house you'd better either _be_ with me or you should bring a weapon with you. The monster is _really_ strong." I winced.

We stopped at the front of my house and I turned to him before I entered my gates.

"Thank you for the serve today. It was really nice."

"No problem." He said. "We can go again if you like. That's store's really good!"

"Yeah, sure." I nodded and smiled. I felt like I known him forever. I wonder if he felt that way too. "And next time, _I_'ll serve." We laughed and then he backed away.

"I'll see you tomorrow then?" He said and waved. I waved back.

"Yeah, bye." I said and he walked down the street and entered the gates to his house. But before that, he suddenly stepped back to look at me. "Can I see you tomorrow morning when we go to school?" He yelled across the street.

"Yeah, sure!" I yelled back and stepped out from the gates. "7:40 maybe?" He made a hand gesture.

"Awesome. And if I'm not there by then, check my house to see. Remember to bring a bat or something."

I chuckled and waved back. "I will." I yelled and we both entered our own houses.

It's wonderful to be friends with a boy.

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_I have a small question for you guys...does this story seem to have a lot of drama? I know that the main genre is drama but...does it feel a bit corny? If you think it is, tell me and I may be able to change it into a less drama-ish story. But still, hoped you all liked it! :D_


	12. Chapter 12

Thursday recess, school playground.

It turned out that Shinichi appeared at my house right on time. I was just stepping out of the gates and found Shinichi running over from behind me and saying hi. He looked very happy.

"Good morning!" He said brightly and threw his bag over his shoulder.

"Hi." I said back. I was sure that I looked a bit confused.

"Sorry, I'm just happy." He said and looked down the road towards our school. "It's just that the soccer match is tomorrow and I can't wait."

"Isn't there a match every year?" I asked and put my arms through my backpack.

"Yeah. But I'm always happy about these things."

"And cases?"

He looked at me and threw me a stare between amused and disturbed. I laughed a little.

We walked and talked all the way to school. Chatting about everything and nothing. He was indeed _very_ happy. He told me a lot about soccer and all those things he liked. And especially Sherlock Holmes. He's been talking about him since yesterday. But I didn't mind.

His father must like Sherlock Holmes too since Shinichi knows a bit too much about him for his age. There are plenty of things I've never heard of. I'm sure his father, Yuusaku told him a lot about him since he's a novel writer.

Once we got to school, we entered the hall towards our separate classrooms and it still didn't seem like he's said enough. But I couldn't blame him; he likes soccer and Sherlock Holmes so much.

It was until one of his friends came over and called him and he finally stopped talking. He gave me a wave goodbye and ran to his own class; smiling to me one last time before disappearing from my sight.

I walked into my own class and said hi to my friends who all looked at me as if there's gold floating above of my head. Even the oh-so-calm-about-boys Sonoko looked surprised.

"Did you come to school with Shinichi?" She asked me without saying a hello. I set my backpack on the desk without a word. "I mean he was totally with you when you just came."

"I can see that, Sonoko." I said and took my books out. "He was just talking to me about the soccer match and Sherlock Holmes-"

"And all the other things he liked?" She ended the sentence for me. "Yes, yes Ran, I know that. But the point is: you went out with him; you came to school with him, _and _you were talking about the things he _liked_. I wonder if he will add _you_ on the list later on."

"Sonoko, Shinichi and I are friends. We weren't exactly _going out_."

"Oh, of course not." She said and rested an elbow on my shoulder. "You were _dating_."

One second. Two seconds."Is there a difference?" I asked with half-moon eyes. She gave me a devil grin.

"Hee hee. Of course not." And then gave me a hard pat on the back and sat down beside me. She really _is_ crazy.

Well, everyone seemed normal for the rest of the day as we started out for lunch and sat down under a tree. Sonoko looked happy and giddy at the same time.

"So, are you going?" She suddenly asked and made me look at her.

"Going where?" I asked and she gave me a look that says 'duh'.

"Going to the soccer match tomorrow!" She jumped up and down like a little child. "Shinichi invited you, didn't he?"

"It's not exactly called 'inviting' but yes; he asked me if I'll go." I took a bite out of my sandwich.

"And?" She said and I looked at her again. "Are you going?"

"Of course." I said and took a sip out of my soda. "He _is_ my friend after all."

"That's going to be wonderful then!" She jumped again and I almost choked when she accidently bumped me on the shoulder.

"Eh?" I asked as she gave me a devilish smile that raised my goose bumps.

"I can't wait until the part where you go and congratulate him. It's obvious that he will win and when you go to talk to him, he might me so happy that he'll start kissing you or something like that."

Boy, there must be something wrong with her brains.

"Ha ha." I laughed sarcastically, "I doubt so."


	13. Chapter 13

Friday afternoon, after Shinichi walked me home.

"You can stop now, Shinichi." I said when I was walking home with Shinichi after the soccer game. "I can see how happy you are."

"Oh, yeah, speaking of see, did you see the part where I kicked the ball and it flew right in the net? I mean, I barely used any force and it just went flying over the soccer field!"

"Yes, yes Shinichi, I saw that." I nodded. "I saw _everything_ you've done today and it was all _perfect_. Now can you stop?"

"It's not my problem." He laughed and I sighed. "I mean, the team has been winning every year after I joined in 2 years ago."

"Yup, yup, I know. I know that you're wonderful, you're good at everything, and you're just — perfect, okay? Now can we stop?" I was _definitely_ feeling a little tired about this.

"Hey, I'm sorry." He apologized, although he did not look a _bit_ serious. "I'm just—happy."

"I can see that." I said again and he finally stopped laughing. He was too busy taking breaths. "Now chill and relax. Now that you've won the game, you can take a break. Can't you?"

"Sure. Yeah." He said, still smiling. "And I was thinking about going to Tokyo and see my friend over the weekend. Wanna come?"

"Is it—are you going to see Hattori Heiji?" I asked. "The one with you earlier this week?"

"Yeah." He said and gave me an enormous grin. "He's a really good friend of mine."

"Of course." I said and looked at the sky. "But are you sure you want me to come?"

"Sure, why not?" He said and looked like he was about to laugh. "Hattori has a girlfriend over there and they argue a lot. You could come with me and talk to her. I'm sure that it would make her feel a much more accompanied."

"He has a girlfriend?" I asked. Sounding a more amused than confused.

"Yeah…but he still hasn't admitted it yet. They grew up with each other."

"I see…" I said and smiled at him. "I'd love to come. But I have to ask my mom about it first. Then I'll call you?" He gave me a nod and a grin.  
"Sure, that will be great! I'm deciding to leave tomorrow at around 10 in the morning and come back Sunday afternoon. We could stay at Hattori's house, he wouldn't mind at all. You could tell her that."

By the time he ended that sentence, we were already at the gate of my house and I turned to smile at him.

"Wonderful. I'll tell mom that." I said and waved goodbye. "Hopefully she'll say yes."

He nodded and I walked in the gates, heading back home to tell my mom about the news. It was already after six and she was home, so it gives me a lot of time to talk to her about the date Shinichi asked me to.

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_DUN DUN dun? How do you think? I know that it's very short and that it's probably very annoying... but you don't suspect a diary to be long, do you?? Anyway, hoped you all liked it's so far.......and PLEAZ review and comment! I'm dying to know what you think. Thanks readers!_


	14. Chapter 14

Saturday evening. Hattori Heiji's house.

We started our way out a little before 10 and someone picked us up to the train station. It was Saturday so there were a lot of people; it took us a while to walk to our train and climb in because of the passengers around. Good thing Shinichi bought a ticket on a big train and we had a lot of room to sit. It was quite a fancy and empty train.

"Tokyo isn't _that_ far, you know?" I said while he leaned back in his chair. "We could've taken a car."

"Aw, don't worry." He said and waved his hand. "This train isn't _that_ expensive. And even if it is, I've got my dad's credit card."

"Wow, Shinichi, you're parents must be very proud of you." I said sarcastically and he grinned at me.

"Of course they are."

The scenery outside from the train was quite beautiful. My mom usually drives on the highway; I couldn't really see the water or anything else like that so I guess that the train was quite worth it. Shinichi and I were arguing about the money when we were driving towards the train station. If I look back to it, it _was_ quite funny.

"Have you ever been to Tokyo?" He asked suddenly. "'Cause you don't really seem like you did."

I blinked at him and he looked at me blankly. Then I said, "Of course I did. Once, though, and it was before my parents moved apart. But Tokyo's the capital, of course I've been there."

"Oh, okay. I was just wondering since you look so excited." I apologized for that.

We got there at around noon and Shinichi helped me carry my bag after we got out of the train, I was very upset about that but he ignored me. We called a taxi and drove towards Heiji's home.

Heiji's father is a police officer and has been for at least 10 years. He has a higher level than my dad and holds a big responsibility for the police force. I've never met him before; I wonder if my dad has.

We arrived at his house an hour later and Heiji was the first to come out, followed by his 'girlfriend', Kazuha.

"Oi, Kudo. You're a bit slow today." He said to Shinichi with a Tokyo accent. Kazuha smiled at him. "And you brought your friend!"

"Yeah, you've met her." Shinichi said and pulled me next to him. "She's Mouri Ran, the girl we met last time when you came. I asked her to come with me and join you're lady right here." He nodded towards Kazuha who has a deep blush on her face.

"Very funny, Kudo. If she's _my_ lady, _that_ one's yours." Meaning me. I felt blood rush onto my face.

Shinichi's face looked a bit red too as he pushed me towards Kazuha, who looked like she was a bit laughing. "You guys can talk." He said to us and walked towards Heiji, who's smiling like a fool right now.

"Are you Shinichi's girlfriend?" Kazuha asked me and I shook my head hard.

"No, no. We're just friends." I said and she smiled, with a bit of a blush on her face. "I'm Mouri Ran by the way, which you apparently know."

"Of course." She chuckled and shook my hand, "I'm Toyoma Kazuha. The most _unluckiest_ girl to grow up with _that_ detective geek." She said while looking over at Heiji. Although I can tell by her eyes that she really likes him. But hey, Heiji _is_ a pretty good-looking guy, save for the fact that his skin is really dark. But he could be in a good-looking-competition with Shinichi and probably have a tie with him. From afar under the sun, Shinichi and Heiji looked almost as if they were brothers; they act that way, too.

"So, are you having a good time so far?" Kazuha asked and I nodded.

"Of course. Tokyo's always a good place; I'm having a lot of fun just by standing in it." Kazuha laughed at that.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't consider it to be the _best_ place to be. There are a lot of murders here." I agreed and we started a new conversation about how we met the boys.

Later on, I discovered that Kazuha's father was a great friend with Heiji's and that's how they met each other. They knew each other since they were like 4 and had always been in the same school. Not like me who moves to a different place every 2 or 3 years. After all the conversations about each other, I could tell how much Kazuha likes Heiji, and when I overhear Shinichi talk about her, Heiji's reply would always be a little insulting, but yet fond in a way.

We walked to a nearby restaurant after Heiji showed us our rooms and put our things there. It was a diner and there were many people there. Sakura trees surrounded the place and it smelled _really_ good.

I always liked sakura.

We ate and talked about ourselves and soon, I joined in their friend group. Kazuha really like talking to me and I enjoyed talking too. We ordered or lunch and finished it quickly; soon, we were getting ready to leave the diner. The day was new and everything was perfect.

Until someone suddenly screamed somewhere in the kitchen.

"You two stay here." Shinichi said and Heiji already left us. They both ran towards the kitchen and burst in while the two of us stared at each other with half confused, half frightened eyes.

It was a murder. Someone stabbed the chef with a kitchen knife and the dead body was bleeding on the floor. Everyone said that they were too busy cooking until suddenly, the chef just fell back and died. They all said that none of them saw any murderer.

But Shinichi was certain that the murderer is in the group of cookers.

Kazuha and I waited at the door for about two hours or so until finally, Shinichi and Heiji came out; all exhausted and happy at the same time.

"You _are_ better than me, I guess." I heard Heiji said. "You figured out who was the murderer before me, didn't you?"

"Well," Shinichi said, "it _was_ pretty obvious that the killer was him."

Even though someone died in the diner and everyone was chased out by the police, they seemed to have a good time solving the case because they were smiling so badly. They're probably really use to these things or they wouldn't be enjoying it.

Kazuha said something to Heiji while I handed Shinichi a handkerchief. He took it to wipe his face.

"Had fun?" I teased and Shinichi laughed.

"Well, yeah, I guess so." He shrugged and smiled at me apologetically. "Sorry you had to see this again. Seeing dead bodies isn't a really happy thing."

"But you kinda enjoyed it, huh?" I said and he made a face. I laughed.

"All right then. Let's go." Kazuha said after arguing with Heiji for a while. He didn't look to happy. More like tired.

_Really_ tired.

And so, we left the diner and towards the garden, where fresh flowers bloomed freely upon the sidewalk and trees. I smelled the sweet fragrant and felt soft wind blowing in my hair. Kazuha was really enjoying herself and she's pulling Heiji along with her.

"Thank you for bringing me here, Shinichi." I said and smiled. "It's really nice to be with a good friend in such a wonderful place. I haven't felt this good for years."

"I hope you do." He said and gave me a really soft smile. "And thank _you_ for coming with me." We both chuckled a little when Shinichi suddenly stopped and turned towards me.

"Listen Ran, I was thinking about taking you-"

"Oi, Kudo!" Heiji suddenly yelled at us with Kazuha pulling one of his arms. "I can have a bit of a help here." Kazuha made a face.

"Oh, sure. Be right there." Shinichi yelled back and turned to me again. "We can talk about that later." He smiled and ran over to Heiji. I followed him quietly.

I'm still wondering what Shinichi was going to say.


	15. Chapter 15

Sunday afternoon. On our way back to Beika.

Yesterday was a _really_ great day. I had _so_ much fun with Kazuha and Heiji, and of course, Shinichi. We are heading back on the train now and we're half way there. He just went to the restroom and it gives me a couple of minutes to write.

Although time went by really fast, we still got a lot of things done. I helped Heiji clean up the house a bit with Kazuha since it was a _bit_ messy; I also finished all my homework, thanks to the genius, Shinichi. After around 9, Kazuha decided that we should go sing karaoke, which Heiji was not happy about.

"You don't wanna hear him sing." He said. "He can let a murderer surrender just by singing 'row, row, row your boat'." Kazuha hit him on the arm.

"Heiji, be nice. Kudo-kun can't be _that _bad." Heiji laughed sarcastically.

Sighing, Kazuha turned to Shinichi. "Ignore him, let's just all go singing together! On second thoughts, don't bring Heiji."

"Hey, no fair!" Heiji exclaimed. Kazuha glared at him. "_Fine_. He can sing. Still, there's some hot chicks to look at." Kazuha hit him again.

We got there just a few minutes before 10 and Kazuha picked a room. She told me she's been here a lot of times with her other friends and she always sings in this room. She says that this room can enchant us to have a better voice. You know my personality...I believed her.

She picked a song for the both of us to sing and the good thing is that she could sing pretty well. We made a really good team together, and it also seemed like she's taken classes before.

Heiji picked a song he knew very well and rocked the whole place. It kinda felt like the ground is moving when he sang, and he's definitely not a professional.

Although, Shinichi is a bit worse.

He didn't seem to be too disturbed by what Heiji said about him earlier, and neither was Kazuha and I. But what neither of us expected was what Heiji said was true...Shinichi really _was_ a bad singer.

Still, he's my best friend, I can still live with his singing.

He is _definitely, not_ a professional.

I overheard Heiji yell something at him.

"Kudo! Turn your volume off, it's killing me!"

I laughed a little.

Good thing that the song he picked was short, or it'll probably scare all the people away and they'll never want to come to this place again. He stopped pretty soon and he didn't really realize that his singing was _really_ bad. I tried not to show my amusement.

We ordered some snacks to eat and watched a movie there. I was surprised. Since when does a karaoke club have movies? Huh.

After wiping all the tears away from my eyes (the movie was _hilarious_), we started our way out like one minute before midnight. I realized that when Shinichi suddenly pulled on my arm.

"Hey, come on. It's almost midnight!" And he pulled me away from Kazuha and Heiji. Heiji was stuttering.

"What's going on, Shinichi?" I asked. Really confused.

He finally stopped when we got outside under the moon.

"You know another reason I invited you here?" He said, smiling.

I shook my head and he tilted his head down to look at his watch.

"Well," he said, "just wait for a sec." And he paused. I was really confused at that time.

"Five," he started counting, "four, three, two…one!" And then fireworks lit up the night sky. First red, then blue, and all beautiful colors mixed up together as one. I was dazzled.

Shinichi chuckled a little before he spoke. "Like it?" He said with an enormous grin on his face.

I nodded and smiled back. "Of course!" I yelled. The fireworks were pretty loud. "I love it! But Shinichi, what day is it today?"

"You don't know?" He said, laughing a bit. Kazuha and Heiji ran out to join us. "Today's the Spring Equinox day. The anniversary of the Koa Buddha's death. You don't know?"

"Well, I didn't know that they will light off fireworks." I replied slowly. He grinned.

"Well, Tokyo does. I just wanted to show you their fireworks. They have really nice ones." Then his smile softened. "It's just—special."

I looked at him curiously but soon returned my attention back on the beautiful lights in the sky. I heard myself murmur, "It's beautiful."

"I've seen more beautiful things than that." Shinichi said softly and I looked back at him. His smile was very tender and it reminded be of what my dad's eyes looked like when he thought about my mom...Jealous suddenly crept into my heart.

I looked at him for while before returning my attention back on the sky. There was this strange feeling that he was talking about someone I know fairly well. After shaking my mind off of it, my thoughts flew away with the wind again and up to the sky. We watched the rest of the fireworks light up the sky silently and heard other people on the streets gasp and awe. I was feeling the same way as them.

So the night went on perfectly. So perfect that I was surprised by it. For a moment I wondered if there was going to be another murder at the karaoke club.

And we went home soon in a taxi and went to sleep.

Next morning I woke up at around 9. One of the latest mornings of my life. Darn.

The good thing is that they haven't woken up either, so I crept downstairs for some breakfast and met their maids. We made some breakfast together and I went up again to wake them up. Waking up Shinichi is one of the hardest things to do in my whole life. Wow.

After breakfast we went to meet Kazuha near her house and started for the Tokyo tower. It was indeed very tall but it felt like it's gotten shorter then I once remembered.

But of course, I've gotten taller. Well, not _too_ much.

We walked around for a while and Kazuha bought me a few things while Shinichi and Heiji wondered off again when a few 'babes' passed by.

What is with boys about pretty girls anyway? They're only 15!

Kazuha toured me around for the rest of the day while Shinichi and Heiji dragged along behind us. They also had something like a pancake dangling from their mouths the whole morning. We separated a lot of times since they didn't agree on coming to pray with us, so we met again a few hours later somewhere near the Tokyo tower and started leaving after Kazuha bought me a lot of whole other things.

When we sat in the car while driving back towards Heiji's apartment to get our stuff, Kazuha argued with him the whole way.

"Only one day! That's not enough! Ran and I are close as sisters and sisters don't just spend one day with each other."

"It was one and a _half_ days." Heiji argued back. "That's enough! How long do you girls need anyway?"

"Okay, fine, it was one and a _half_ days but we just met each other and we want more time! Unlike some people like _you_ who doesn't have a heart and don't care about other people!" Heiji made a face.

"Guys?" I interrupted and looked at them pleadingly. "Um, I know you're in a middle of something but could we please not argue? I mean, it's a wonderful day and we really shouldn't be mad."

"Who cares about him?" Kazuha yelled. "He's heartless and why shouldn't I be mad at him?" Heiji opened his mouth to speak but Kazuha cut in. "And I don't want to hear any 'excuses'. That's enough, thank you!" And she turned her back to him where he made a face at. To me, he made a few circles with his finger around the side of his head and mouthed: _She's crazy_. I had to giggle at how those to act around each other. They must fight a lot!

Shinichi sighed in front and mumbled, "I'm so glad I'm leaving today."

"Wha~t?" Heiji stretched the 'a' and made it sound like a siren.

"Nothing." Shinichi replied quickly and looked out the window while Heiji sighed just like him. In a tired way. I shook my head a bit.

When we finally got back to Heiji's home, Kazuha went with me to my room and helped me pack my stuff while the boys went somewhere together. After she helped me gather my things, she gave me a massive hug.

"I'm so sad you're leaving, I wish you could stay here." She frowned but thought a second after. "Then again, maybe not _here_."

I laughed a bit and hugged her back; she gently squeezed me as reply. "I don't want to leave either. I mean, I had so much fun with you." We let go and looked at each other, smiling the girls smile. "I wish _you_ could come with _me_ to my place. Beika is really wonderful!"

"I know, I've heard, so stop making me want to go more that I already want to, k?" She quirked up an eyebrow as I laughed again.

"Okay then. Then don't _ever_ come, it's _awful _there!" We both laughed at that.

"I'm just sad I can't come with you 'cause I want a _friend_, not some stupid mystery geek who argues with me all the time." I looked at her strangely.

"I…thought you liked him?" I asked suggestively and she blushed a bit.

"Me? Him? Never!" Now she's really red and I patted her on the shoulder with a smile.

"Hey, you know who I am and I'm not stupid." She made a face. "There's nothing wrong with that. I can understand why you like him, and I'm sure he likes you, too. Just stop arguing and things might get better. K?" She looked down at her feet.

"You really think he likes me?" She asked sheepishly. I nodded.

"Yes, I'm sure." And she smiled a bit. And looked at me.

"And I'm sure Shinichi likes you too." I didn't expect that. "Did you see the way he looks at you?"

I blinked at her twice before I located my gaze somewhere else. The wall that splits Shinichi's and my room. Kazuha's smiled broadened.

"And…if I'm not mistaken…you like him, too?" She whispered a bit while I shook my head.

"No, no. Shinichi and I are just friends, and I like him that way. I'm sure he does, too. Right?" I asked hopefully. Not really wanting to believe that Shinichi likes me. And besides, he's way too famous.

But I _do_ like him. Right? I don't really know.

"Whatever, Ran. But one day if you lose him, don't say I didn't remind you that you have a really nice chance now." And she gives me a wink.

We left the room and met Shinichi and Heiji already waiting for us in the living room. They were talking distinctively about something and Shinichi's face was a bit pink while Heiji was smirking.

"Hey! We're ready!" Kazuha waved to them and they both smiled their original smiles. And Shinichi was smiling at _me_.

My heart always skips a beat when he does that.

Why does it do that?

"Ready to go?" He asked me and took my bag from my hands. I made a face at him.

"You're doing that again?" I asked.

He laughed a bit and looked at me square in the eye. "Not if you could stop me." I threw him a playful glare.

We left after and soon enough, we were already at the train station.

Kazuha hugged me for the last time and smiled. "Call me, okay?"

"I will." I promised and returned the smile. Then stepped over to Heiji and gave him a hug, too.

"Have a nice trip!" He said cheerfully and I nodded.

"I will. And thank you _so_ much for everything." He gave me a 'no problem' gesture.

Heiji patted Shinichi on the back after he hugged Kazuha and we left for the train and got on. I gave Kazuha another wave.

"I'll come soon!" I yelled and she waved back.

"You'd better!" We both laughed and Shinichi took me by the arm to get further in the train. And now I'm sitting here.

I had so much fun with those two these days but I also can't wait to get home. School's tomorrow and gotta get ready, so I'll be stopping for today.

Let's just hope that there's no murder on the train for the rest of the trip.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_That's it for this chapter! As you can see, I'm not as violent as __Gosho Aoyama__ who makes up a murder every single episode which is like almost every single day of Shinichi's life! Not as many people die in my stories. Hope you don't mind. :P_

_Just as a reminder: I don't own Case Closed or any of the characters!! Even though I really want to._

_R&R!!! Thanks all!!!_


	16. Chapter 16

May 4th, on my way to bed.

A month as passed quickly and now it's getting really warm. The sun always shone brightly in Beika and I'm having so much fun.

Last time I went to Tokyo to visit Heiji where I also met a new, wonderful friend, Kazuha. We've talked to each other a lot over the phone now and have become almost sisters. I also introduced Sonoko to her, and now those two are quite good friends as well.

I also had contact with Heiji and he still sounded the same as he was over the months. He was quite glad to hear me since he never really talked to Shinichi and also asked me information about him.

Although, it's kinda vice versa. He told me things about Shinichi that I didn't even know.

"Shinichi's birthday is tomorrow?" I asked him this morning after we both woke up.

"Yeah, May 5th, he didn't tell you? Or did he forget again?"

"Er…I think he forgot." I replied confusingly while Heiji snorted over the phone.

"Yeah, well, he forgets these things easily so you'd better keep track of these things or I'll forget, too." I nodded.

"Okay then, I'll give him a surprise. Don't want him to grow a year without celebrating."

"Yeah. But one thing I'm not happy about is that he's younger than me, but also a bit smarter than me."

I was about to say something when I repeated his words in my head and paused. It was after a few seconds when he asked me what happened.

"Did-did you say, smarter than you?" I heard him sigh in the phone.

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, he thinks really fast. Faster than I do anyway." I smiled a bit and tried to picture what he's looking now.

"Look, just because he's fast at solving cases, doesn't mean he's smarter than you. I mean, you could be more accurate? There's no better or worse between you guys, it's just pretty much even." I smirked at my speech and knew he would feel better that. My mom always says I have really good speeches and that I might become a good lawyer someday like she is. She even says that one sentence of encouragement comes out of my lips, it always make anyone feel better.

"Thanks." He said quietly and paused for a moment. "I can see why he feels that way for you…"

"Excuse me?" I didn't really hear anything afterwards since his words turned into a very light whisper.

"N-nothing." He said and paused again to do something. "Well, nice talkin' to ya. I've gotta go, I have sword practicing later."

"Okay then." I said and started to stand up myself. "Talk to you soon."

"Yeah," He grunted a bit. He was probably stretching. "I'll talk to you later."

"Bye."

"Za."

And we both hung up.

"What did he say?" I wondered out loud and thought for a while. But shrugged and went to make a surprise for Shinichi's 15th birthday.


	17. Chapter 17

May 5th. Shinichi's birthday!!!

"Happy Birthday!!!" I yelled to Shinichi after he opened the door to his house with huge eyes glued onto his face. "I've made this, hope you don't mind a few days of sweet things." I had to lean to the side of my _gigantic_ cake that I baked for him just this evening. I could see that his jaws were dangling, too.

I made a white cake with three layers and plenty layers of frosting. I used green mint and white chocolate to make a few soccer balls and some chocolate for the imaginary dirt that flew with the soccer ball. I also had a Sherlock Holmes sign sticking on the top of the cake that I cut off one of my books and taped it so it looked shiny. But not as bright as Shinichi's eyes.

"Wha-what the—" He looked utterly confused.

"Could you just let me in first?" I pleaded. "This thing is quite heavy." And he stood aside and almost wanted to take the cake from me. I rejected and continued to walk to his kitchen while carrying the cake myself.

"How did you-what did you-why did you—?"

"Okay, Shinichi." I cut in. "I'm answering this one at a time and don't interrupt. I've been in contact with Heiji, as you know, and asked him when your birthday is. And he said it was today. He also told me that you always forget your birthday so he wanted me to remind you. But instead of just _reminding_ to, I gave you a surprise." I grinned proudly to myself. "Oh, and uh, here's the ingredient on how to make this cake." I took out a piece of crumpled paper from my pocket. "So, um, first you need to get some milk; eggs; flour; sugar, some butter to make it more tasty—" I didn't even get to finish my sentence and Shinichi pulled me into a hug. I was sure I looked shocked.

"Thanks so much, Ran. You know I didn't suspect this, and I—"

"Especially will not suspect this." Another voice broke in before a flash of white light shined the whole room. "This'll make a good school picture."

"Sonoko!" I screamed and we both pushed each other away, both too embarrassed to look at each other. I ran over to Sonoko and tried to grab the camera but she shoved it away from my reach.

"Oh, no you don't. _I_ took the picture so _I_'m post it."

"Sonoko, give that to me." I said a little too patiently.

"Why?" She gave me a funny look. "Embarrassed 'cause you two's little secrets are blown away? Hey, you know? It's not a really good thing to keep a secret from your friend."

"We're not keeping, _anything_." I punctuated my last word with a growl. "Shinichi was just—happy, I guess and just—hugged me 'cause he was happy and there's no secret!" Sonoko laughed.

"Who'll believe you after I post this picture on the school wall—?"

"DON'T!!!!" Shinichi and I both yelled at the same time and Sonoko jumped. Along with some other friends who sneaked in over after her,

"What are you guys doing here anyway?" Shinichi cut in. "Ran, did you invite them?"

"Oo~ looking forward for some _private time_?" Sonoko said in a girly way as we both gave her a hard stare.

"Nothing's going on between me and Shinichi so just STOP IT!" I yelled and my face pumped dark red. Why did it suddenly turn so hot in here? Is it hot? "And no, Shinichi, I would NEVER invite _them_ in your house."

"Oh, Ran, I'm hurt!" Sonoko smirked and put a hand over her mouth while she tucked her camera in her pocket. "This'll be safe with me." I lunged for her again.

"Sonoko, give that to me!" I yelled.

"Never!" She cracked but she suddenly frowned as I ran over to her and was ready to tackle her. A few other of our friends were already chanting: fight, fight, fight while Shinichi just sighed. I ignored them.

"Okay, okay! That's it." Shinichi suddenly yelled from the crowd and we all stared at him. But I was lucky enough to grab Sonoko's hand as she struggled to get away. "Ran, it's-it's fine."

"But are you just gonna let them harass us?" I whined and Sonoko jerked her hand. "They're not having that photo!"

"Just, come. I need to, uh, talk to you, for a sec." He said, his face a bit red as a few people whistled.

I glared at Sonoko and let go of her as she gave me a small, 'innocent' smile and walked towards Shinichi, who was already stepping away. We walked quietly away from the others who were all laughing or hooting in the kitchen. I had to growl under my breath.

Shinichi finally stopped walking when we got on the back porch of his house, where we got a magnificent view of the sun setting in the horizon.

"Wow." I murmured a moment after and Shinichi smiled a bit.

"Yeah, I've always liked it here." That's when he paused just long enough to take a deep, deep breath. "Listen, Ran." He turned to me and looked a bit uncomfortable. "I appreciate everything that you've done tonight and I thank you _very_ much of all the effort you've put into this. But—" He hesitated. "This is a bit _too_ much." He ended with a whisper and a slightly pained glance at my direction. My breath hinged. "I mean, I know how you're feeling and I know how you're trying to make _me_ feel. I mean I feel _wonderful_. But I never expected this. _Ever._ And it's just a bit too fast for me." He looked away over to the sun. "I'm not sure if I could accept all of this if we're just..." By now breath really got caught and I chocked.

But I realize I wasn't chocking. I was crying.

"No, Ran, please, don't-don't cry." Shinichi said and touched both my shoulders with his hands. "No, please, I-I take all of that back. Really, I—"

"No, it's fine." I whispered and covered my face with my hands. "I'm fine. I know. I know this—this isn't right and I'm _sorry_. I just—didn't know what was going to happen." And I started to back away from his grip but he only held me tighter. I looked up at him, a bit startled but more surprised when he pulled me into a tight hug. His nose buried in my hair and my face still in my palms but on his shoulder. One of his hands was on my back while the other was holding my head. I suddenly felt a stronger urge to cry.

"I'm sorry." He whispered and I shook my head. "I'm sorry; I really take all of that back." I sobbed into his shoulder once more. "Just—just please stop crying." I shook my head again and he pulled me to him tighter. I suddenly felt warm but not hot anymore.

We stayed like that for a few minutes until I stopped crying, and was hiccupping to his shirt. Now I had my arms around his neck but his hands were still in its same position. I turned my head a bit on his shoulder so we were kind of looking at the sun set. I felt him swallow.

"You—" he started quietly, afraid to break the magical silence. "You, okay now?" I nodded a bit.

"I'm fine. Really." I said firmly so he could trust me. But he didn't really seem to. "I just—I want to go home." I hiccupped again and started to pull away from him. He didn't let loose of me.

"I'm sorry." He whispered into my hair and made me shiver. "I didn't know it was going to turn out this way."

I shook my head again and unwrapped my arms, covering my swollen eyes with one hand and tried to hide my face from him. "I'm—fine."

That's when he let go of me and I backed away, hiccupping again. "I'll just—go."

"No, Ran, stay here. Please." He whispered and I could tell from his voice that he meant it. I took me a few seconds to give up and nod a bit and wiped my eyes. "Only for—another minute." I heard him make a sound.

I leaned against the railing of the porch and set my elbows on them, while my face is still in my palms. I felt his hand crawl onto my shoulder and traced a path up to my neck, where he held there for a bit, and sighed and looked at the sky.

We didn't speak anything afterwards for another few minutes until I was about to leave. "I'm sorry." I whispered finally and he turned to look at me. "I—didn't really know that they would do that." My hiccups finally stopped. "I'll just…go and…gotta finish my homework.

"Stay here a little longer." He suggested. "I mean, you—"

"I'll be fine." I reassured him and he didn't say anything. "Happy Birthday." I whispered and backed away from the railing and walking out from the porch and into the house. By then, no one was in the kitchen anymore and so I guessed they left. I sighed as I remembered that I left the jacket I bought for Shinichi at home. I didn't bother to think of coming back.

I left the cake there since I didn't want to carry such a heavy thing and left the house.

And Shinichi didn't come after me.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_Well, there you go, the biggest drama of the story. Sorry for not publishing for a while, this time I updated two chapters! Well, hoped you liked it. Plz review! :)_


	18. Chapter 18

Friday, after school. In my bedroom.

It's been a week since we last talked to each other since the birthday incident, I've been trying to avoid him over the time and he didn't seem like he needed to talk to me either. Thank goodness Sonoko didn't put the picture on the school board, she figured something was wrong, and never asked me anything about Shinichi for these days. I was glad that she understands.

I haven't talked to Heiji these days either, I didn't want to talk to him about what happened that day and I don't want to think about it. Although some people still tease us about the hugging, but we've been totally ignoring it, and we both understand to keep some distance between each other.

Little did we know, we've been keeping too much distance, and I haven't seen him for 3 days. I doubt that he has seen me either.

I did see him on TV a couple of times and he's getting really famous. Although he still looked proud and a bit embarrassed when some fans come up to ask him questions, he still looks like he's missing something.

Is it me? I doubt so.

Well, to think of it, I doubt a lot of things.

I also saw him a couple of times during P.E. where he always plays his favorite soccer, but I walked away silently, and wondered if he could feel me thinking about him.

The thought of him thinking that I'm not really acceptable, my heart ached. And I felt like that day all over again.

But I don't understand. Why am I feeling this way? I shouldn't. We're only just friends, right?

Or maybe, less than that.

Then why do I feel empty without him these days? It's only been a week, it's not long.

Or is it, what Sonoko has been saying all year: I like him?

But no, it's not that, that's not enough.

I _love _him.


	19. Chapter 19

**Saturday, 10 am.**

Sonoko called me this morning to ask me if I wanted to go shopping with her. I said I didn't feel too well so I don't really want to come, but…she started yelling at me.

"RAN, YOU **HAVE** TO COME! THIS IS URGENT!"

"Going shopping with you is urgent?" I asked and twirled my fingers around my phone. "I thought you already have enough clothes to wear."

"Well, it's just that, it's been a _week_ and I never really had a good chance to spend time with you. You're always making excuses such as 'I'm not feeling well' or 'I have homework' or 'my mom needs my help' or bla bla bla. Why is this happening?" She actually really sounded upset.

"I'm sorry, Sonoko." I sighed and plopped back on my bed, "I'm just…having a really bad time right now."

"Then we should spend time together and get you caught up! You've been quite pessimistic these days and a few friends could cheer you up. How's that?"

"There are more people?" I asked and I heard her make a sound.

"What? You don't want other people to come?"

"No, no, it's not that. But how many are there?"

"About six."

"Who?"

"Not telling you."

I paused before I spoke again in a lower voice. "Why?"

"Because~" She stretched the word. "It's a surprise."

I sighed and rubbed my forehead with my fingers and rolled to my side. Then I couldn't think of a good excuse so I sighed again and said, "Fine, I'll come." I heard her squeak, "But don't let me do anything stupid."

"Fine, this'll make you feel much better. See you at 11 at the mall then."

"Okay," I grunted and laid on my back again. "See you."

"Bye." She said cheerfully and hung the phone. I laid there, phone on the ear with a buzzing sound in it. After a few seconds of listening to it, I decided to put down the phone and go to the bathroom to take a quick bath.

I started out at around 10:40 from my house to the mall. I walked there, too. The mall was the other direction of my school so I had to walk pass Shinichi's gate, and I didn't feel too good about that. I really wanted to see him and hug him and talk to him, but I'm not really sure if he wants to see me.

But there's something tugging at my heart to open those gates, walk in and say hi, but I lost that mental battle and put my hand on the gates and pulled.

It didn't budge, the gate was locked.

I thought he just went to play soccer and he's not home, so now I can get away from this place and meet my friends. I tried to act happy and not let anyone see through me but I couldn't put on the mask. Smiling is just, so, tiring, I don't know why I'm feeling that way.

I got there a little past 11 since I was also 'window-shopping' around town. I saw Sonoko at the main entrance of the mall and was standing there impatiently, but her frown turned into a smile when I came into her view.

"Hi, Ran! You're _finally_ here! Why are you late?"

"Sorry," I replied quietly and another two of our friends joined us, "I was just…looking at things. Where are the others?"

"Oh, they aren't here yet. They were probably practicing soccer somewhere. But they'll be here in a minute since one of them just called me."

"Wait," I held out a hand. "Soccer…are they boys?"

Sonoko blinked at me and sweat-dropped a bit but recovered quickly. "Um…er…y-yeah, they're…uh…boys." She scratched the back of her head while she glanced around to see if they'd come yet. "But, they're good ones, so don't worry—"

"Is Shinichi coming?" I interrupted and all of them looked at me; all sweat-dropping. Sonoko's eye twitched once in a while and gulped, not knowing what to say. "Well, _is_ he?" I repeated. Trying not to sound too mad.

"Hey girls!" A voice interrupted and we all turned to see one of our classmates standing next to us, smiling. "Sorry we're late." Then another two people came in view. And one of you—as you have guessed—is Shinichi. Still as handsome as he always was, but he looked a bit miserable.

But when his eyes landed on me, he looked a bit…brighter. And _I_, also felt a little…lighter.

That rhymed didn't it? Ha.

"_Finally_!" Sonoko screeched. "We were wondering when you would come!" She ran over to the boy who was talking and twined their arms together.

Wait, rewind that. Is he and Sonoko…dating?

"Ugh, you came _so_ late, you guys." One of my good friend, Rika whined and walked over to another one of the other boys. Pecking him on the cheek before looking back at me. "Surprised?" Everyone but me and Shinichi turned to look at her. Sonoko didn't seem too happy.

I was too busy staring at Shinichi at that time. We both had our eyes wide and were studying each other with surprised glances. Although he looked quite delighted to see me, he also seemed a bit…hurt.

"Well, now that everyone's here, wanna go now?" Sonoko suggested and shrugged her shoulders. I bit myself mentally and snapped out the connection between me and Shinichi and looked away. Trying to act cool and normal.

The girls agreed while the other two boys growled a bit, Sonoko glared at the boy whom she's holding on to. We walked in the mall as Sonoko and Rika detached themselves with the boys who looked a bit bored. Although, Shinichi just looked, uncomfortable.

We walked in comfortable silence but it was broken a couple of times when the girls pointed at stuffs through the windows. I didn't join them. When they came back from talking about clothes and 'sight-seeing' Sonoko came over next to me and squished me to the middle where Shinichi was walking, so now I was standing side-by-side with him. I felt him squirm a bit.

I did the same.

I didn't pay much attention on shopping, although Sonoko and Rika did force me to try on some clothes while they take the boys as judges on how I look. I could've _sworn_ I saw a small smile curve on Shinichi's lips.

Sonoko bought me merely 3 bags of clothing while she ordered the boys to carry them for us. But not only did they have to carry _mine_, they also had to take care of 9 other bags as well. I sweat-dropped.

It was almost 2 and we all got hungry so we gathered around the cafeteria to get some late lunch. Sonoko—not surprisingly—squeezed me over to sit next to Shinichi, who looked a bit red as I was. We ate lunch slowly to talk to each other about our days. For the first time for about a week, I actually felt…happy. And I was smiling like I usually would for the first time in about 2 days.

It was when the cafeteria cleaner came over to announce that they needed to clean the tables and we decided that we needed to leave sooner. Even though Sonoko was still ready for some shopping, all the others looked pretty much exhausted. She changed her mind.

"We should do this some other time." Arina, the other girl said cheerfully as she skipped backwards in front of us while I guided her on which way to go. "This was fun!"

"I don't really want to," One of the boys grunted as he struggled to keep all the bags together. "I've learned my lesson today and it is _never to shop with a group of girls_." Sonoko nudged him in the rib.

"I like Arina's idea." Sonoko said. "And since you don't like shopping, we'll let you try out our clothes next time when we buy them." Everyone laughed except for him and he didn't look pleased. I tried to picture him in skirts, although the image didn't look too splendid.

We headed out the door and saw that it was already 4 o'clock. The sun was still up pretty high but we were too tired to go anywhere now.

"How's everyone getting home?" Sonoko asked and dialed something on her phone. "I have a limo, anyone wanna come?"

"Um, can I come?" Rika asked a bit sheepishly, "My mom still has work so she can't pick me up."

"And can I have a ride, too?" Arina asked. "I'm too tired to walk."

"Sure, sure, no problem." Sonoko said, "you boys need a ride?"

"Nah, we have to go to the Y to get our stuff, we left it there 'cause we didn't want to take it with us earlier." They replied and smirked at Shinichi. "Although Kudo's lucky, he left his clothes at his house on our way here."

"I'll just walk home." Shinichi said quietly. The hearing of his voice made me feel like a butterfly. "I'm not as tired."

The boys set down their bags and handed our bags to one another. Sonoko informed us that her limo us coming and she was just asking if I needed a ride.

"I'll be fine." I assured and looked into my bags. "I need to exercise anyway, I just gained 3 pounds this week." I stuck my tongue out.

"Really? I didn't notice." Arina said and walked over to me. "Well, you were skinny anyway, guess I can't really tell." She walked back again.

"So…you _sure_ you don't want a ride?" Sonoko asked. Although she looked like she wanted me to say no.

"No, it's fine. It's not too far anyway." I said and she looked a bit relieved.

Wait, why was she relieved?

"Okay then. To my _estimation_, the limo will be here in about 3…2…1, now." And a long, black limo pulled up in front of us.

"How did you do that?" One of the boys looked incredulously at her.

"I'm just amazing." Sonoko teased and put her things in the car while the girls did the same. "Well, hope you had a good time." She said to me and gave me a hug. Rika and Arina joined.

"I did, thank you very much." I said and pulled away, waving at them while the boys patted each other's backs. I hugged the other two. "See you Monday." I said and they waved at me, saying a last 'see you' before walking the other direction to the Y, leaving me and Shinichi alone. The limo also drove away.

I stared into space for about a second before taking my bags again and started walking away. Shinichi interrupted.

"I'll take that." He said and took the two big bags from my hands. He wasn't really smiling though, I'm sure he was just being polite.

"Thanks." I said and started strolling off with Shinichi walking quietly by my side.

I definitely did _not_ feel comfortable being around him just at that time. I just don't know what to say to him and I shouldn't feel that way. We still are _friends_, right?

Well, at least he doesn't seem to be mad at me. I felt him fidgeting a little, too when we walked side by side and I heard him make a sound when our elbows accidently touched. It was when we were almost home when he finally talked to me.

"So, I haven't seen you around these days. Were you busy?" _I think I should ask _you_ that question_.

"Um, yeah, kinda." I replied casually as he nodded in understandment. "My mom, is, uh, pretty busy these days so, uh, I guess I am, too."

"Yeah, I had a lot of soccer games this week." He said, although I could tell that he was lying. "Pretty harsh."

"Yeah…" _Oh, wow Ran, couldn't you think of anything better than just 'yeah'?_

We stopped at my front door and he set the bags down on the ground, I took out my keys from my purse and unlocked the gates. Mom went out for a meeting and still hasn't come back.

"So, I guess I'll be going back." Shinichi said and I glanced at him. "Gotta finish homework."

"Yeah. Okay." I nodded. Although I was really disappointed. "I'll see you Monday then."

"Za." He said, and turned around to his house, his keys were already in his hands. By the time I opened the gates and picked up my bags, Shinichi was already in front of his house, opening his door. It was then that we both paused.

"Ran."

"Shinichi."

We both said at the same time and looked at each other, embarrassed.

"I just wanted to say—"

"Wanna come over to—"

We both paused again and he cleared his throat.

"Um, you first." He suggested and I shook my head.

"No, you."

Crickets chirped once, twice, three times a bug and stopped when he broke in.

"I was wondering if…you wanna come over to do homework together." He said a bit shyly and I blushed also.

"Um…sure," I took a breath. "That is, if I'm not interrupting you."

"No! Not at all." He stuttered. "You are always welcomed."

The crickets chirped again.

"Uh…ok." I nodded and fidgeted a little. "There are a few, uh, questions that I don't, uh, really understand anyway." He nodded and played with his keys.

"So, see you in a bit?" He asked hopefully and I nodded.

"Yeah. See you."

And we both went in our houses slowly. Although I looked completely calm on the outside, I felt like bursting in the inside. _Shinichi asked me over!_

I have to get ready.


	20. Chapter 20

_Woot! This is the third chapter that I updated today, hope you guys have read the last few ones. I just wanna say that this story's almost done and there's probably only 3...4...5 left, I'm not sure how many. But soon, this story will be done and I'm going to write a new one...hopefully, since I'm still writing 'A Cardcaptor's life' right now. But anyway, thanks everyone who has been reading this story, just wait for another 2 days or so and this will be finished! Plz review! :)_

**Sunday morning**

Today is one of the _happiest_ days of my life.

As you know, Shinichi asked me to come over to his place to study; which I did, with my books and papers. Shinichi greeted me at the door and lead me to his library to do our work.

We both worked in comfortable silence for the first few minutes, but one of us had to talk. I did. I asked him questions about the protons and neutrons in an element and he answered easily. After that, we felt much more comfortable if we'd just talk instead of letting silence surround us with its blanket. It was when we finished our science and math work that we talked about other things.

"So, you're mom's not home?" Shinichi asked. "If she was, the gate shouldn't be locked."

"Yeah. My mom went out for a meeting." I said and played with my pencil. "She has had a lot of meetings ever since we moved here. Although she doesn't seem to be upset about that." I smiled and he grinned.

"She must like being a lawyer a lot." He said and I nodded. Then he bent down in his backpack for his History book and took it out, then turned to our homework page.

I took this chance to take a better look at him. I've never been really detailed about what he looks after being friends with him for about 3 months, I wonder if his dad looks the same.

His hair was very dark, almost black compared to mine. He had sapphire blue eyes that could see through every human being that lived, but probably everyone except himself. He has dark, thin eyebrows that arched in a very gentlemen-like way, his eyes and eyebrows match perfectly together and made his looks seem very gentle. His eyelashes were thick and match the color of his hair. The bridge of his nose is high but curved perfectly, making him look older and wiser than his original age. His lips—

Oops, I'm not supposed to look there.

But they look so soft.

_Ah, Ran! Stop think about his lips!_

I snapped out of my thoughts and shook my head. It was that movement that got Shinichi's attention.

"Ran? Are you okay?" He asked me, his book still in his laps.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said slowly and reached for my own book as well. I still felt his gaze move with my actions.

I looked into the book; though, I wasn't paying very much attention. The questions in there were easy so I scribbled down the answers on my notebook and finished the work within 20 minutes, although, Shinichi finished before me.

"You're fast." I said as he stacked his books neatly in a pile. "It took you like, only 15 minutes."

"Yeah, well, I like history the best." He said and stood up to stretch. I closed my book and put my work into my bag. "It's always been easy for me." He added as he use his 'infamous' grin again. I blushed.

Thank god he turned away me.

I walked over to his bookshelves and estimated how many books he probably has in this library. I calculated about 2000.

"Have you read all of these books?" I asked Shinichi. He was curled up in his chair reading a book, probably one of those mystery novels that he'd always loved.

"Most of them." He said, without looking up from the book. "They're all pretty old. I've started reading them since I was 5. My dad read all of them though, and he also bought some new ones for me." He flipped a page.

I turned to look at the books again. Most of them are about historical events or wars. There is one shelf that was full of mystery novels.

I took a book off the shelf and started reading. To my surprise, everything was clean and there was no dust of the cover of the book. Neither was there any dirty things covering the shelf.

"How do you keep things so clean?" I asked and it took him a while to answer.

"Well, I read 'em almost every day. There are a few books that I've read a couple of times." I rose one of my eyebrows.

"Wow." I murmured and returned the book to the shelf. I turned to the clock on the wall and it read 5:57. We've been studying for almost three hours.

"Do you mind if I use your kitchen?" I asked and he finally looked up from his book.

"You're hungry?" He asked. It was more of a comment.

"A bit. I didn't really eat anything this afternoon. Wasn't hungry then." I replied sheepishly and he grinned.

"Sure. You're welcomed to do anything." He set his book on a table nearby. "Want some help?"

"Nope, no need. You can read." I said cheerfully and skipped out the door. I heard him chuckle a bit when I closed the door behind me.

Little did I know, my heart has been beating every time Shinichi laughed and now I couldn't really stop it. I tried to brush it off by running to the kitchen and preparing a meal for the both of us. It was after about 5 minutes that I finally stopped shaking.

_Okay, calm down,_ Ran. I thought. _Concentrate on the dinner._

And I did.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_Yay, Shinichi and Ran are back together again! You all know how they fight, this could've just been one of those small brawls...or maybe not, since Shinichi would never make Ran cry...well, most of the times. I'm going to update soon so plz just wait for the last few chapters. Thx everyone!!_


	21. Chapter 21

Monday

I have to thank Sonoko, I really do. Thanks to her, I'm back to being best friends with Shinichi again. Thanks to her, I'm now smiling as usual. Thanks to her, I've got one of the most important people of my life back.

I realized now, I really do like Shinichi.

And you can't blame me. Shinichi, after all, is one of the hottest and nicest guys in the school. Not to mention, he is smart, too. My mom even likes him.

I just don't understand why I have to fall in love with him. I mean, he definitely thinks I'm just a best friend of his. I doubt that he likes me.

Well, I'm pretty sure he likes me, but does he love me? And will he thinks it's too fast if I tell him I loved him?

Yes, yes. I'm pretty sure.

Well, now that we're back again, Shinichi suggested that we should go to school together again and get things caught up. After all, we haven't seen each other for 3 days.

As usual, Sonoko sees us together again and started teasing us. This time, we only blushed but did not argue. Shinichi continued to his room after saying 'bye' to me.

Grr, that Sonoko.

We talk to each other a lot now, we eat lunch together; we tell jokes and tease each other. And my love just keeps growing for him.

Curse my heart.

But I'm just glad that we're back together. Seeing him smiling (at me!) again just makes my heart flutter.

Curse my heart again.

But I don't think I can keep this for long. Shinichi could always see through people, and I'm sure he could also see through me. I just wish that I could be like him and see what he feels, making sure I'm not making mistakes by liking him.

And also, making sure he doesn't like anyone else.

Let's just say that I'm Shinichi's personal spy now.

Well, not really.


	22. Chapter 22

June 14th. Shinichi's house. Around 8:10

Well! I haven't written for a while and I really missed my diaries.

It's almost summer vacation and we're all very excited. My mom went to Tokyo for a meeting so Shinichi invited me to his house this afternoon to watch a movie and enjoy the last week of school, also to spend the night at his house if I'm lonely. I agreed.

Shinichi has been inviting me to his house every week since the get-back-together day. He comes to my house, too, and my mom always cooks him something new. But he didn't seem to be too happy about that. My mom is a _really_ bad cook, and it was usually _me_ who does the cooking, she only does the cleaning. (I'm sorry mom, but it's true) And the few times that Shinichi came over, he'd always have a stomach ache afterwards. The good thing is that he doesn't say it's bad and my mom really likes him; she even teased me a couple of times about us, I just ignored her.

But my dad doesn't seem to be too happy about him. I'm guessing that he's jealous of how smart he is or something; he ignored him most of the time when he was still here, but he always left soon to go back to his own town.

Today I asked him what movie we were going to watch and he said it was just something new, I gave him a face. He told me to come over at around 7:30 to his house and I agreed; he also told me not to eat tonight since he'll be serving dinner. I was really happy about that.

So I started my way to his house at about 7:20, a bit earlier than he told me to, just to see how he was doing. It was a bit dark for summer nights and I used the street lights to guide my way in case I crash into walls or something. It was also raining.

I walked over to his gate and found that it was already opened, then I walked in. His yard was even black as I made my way slowly to his front porch, and climbed up the stairs. Then I opened the door and stepped in.

It felt really creepy in house since none of his lights were open, and I couldn't find the switch either. I felt goose bumps on my arm when I closed the door behind me and I gulped, not hearing a sound nor seeing anything. It was all dark.

"Hello?" I asked. No answer. "Shinichi?" Still no answer. "This is a bit freaking me out. Where are you?' Again no answer.

I walked a few steps inside and the floor under me creaked a little; I heard it since everything was so quiet. I suddenly felt really cold. I tried to look for some signs of people but there were none, the hallway was empty and there weren't a lot of things, but he's the only one in the house, how can I blame him?

Suddenly, I heard a few footsteps down the hall and they came closer to me. I couldn't see anything and I wasn't sure if it was him, I couldn't make any sounds either. Then I heard a light thunder rumble outside and a few more footsteps and I totally freaked out, this was exactly like a movie I saw a few days ago that scared me inside out completely.

Then there was lightning and I saw a person's figure in front of me. Very loud thunder crashed outside and made it feel like there was lighting right in the backyard. I screamed and dashed forwards, not knowing that Shinichi was in front of me and caught me in his arms.

"R-Ran?" He asked and he sounded really confused. But he _was_ laughing a little. A moment later he asked, "Are you okay?" Then he really laughed.

I was too scared to feel embarrassed at that time. I already felt tears in my eyes and a few seconds later, I was crying. Then I heard another thunder outside and wrapped my arms around him. He stopped laughing.

"Hey, hey," He whispered softly and set me down so I could sit. He was still hugging me. "I'm sorry." He said and heard me whimper, then he hugged me tighter. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Another thunder and really hard rain drowned the night sky. I buried my head in his shoulder and he lifted me up so I was sitting across his lap, my head still on his shoulder and his arms still around me. It made me feel _much_ warmer.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly.

"Not really." I managed to speak with a muffled voice. My throat suddenly felt so dry. "Why didn't you turn the lights on?"

"I did! But the lights in this room don't work too well. I guess it turned itself off again. I'm sorry; I should've burned some candles." I hiccuped and he set his cheek in my hair. "It's alright, I'm here now." And he continued comforting me until I stopped crying.

"You alright now?" He asked a few minutes later and I nodded. But none of us moved in our position yet. "What happened? Were you scared?"

"Remember a few months ago when you told me that there are monsters in your house that eat young girls?"

"Yeah."

"I hate you."

He didn't speak for a while, then he gave out a small chuckle. "I'm sorry. I didn't know that it really scared you."

"I watched 'Friday the 13th' a few days ago! That was scary, too!" He made a sound and pushed me away just enough so he could look at me in the eye.

"Remember one thing. Whenever you come to _my_ house don't be afraid. It might be a bit scary but as long as I'm in it, you're never going to get hurt. K?" I nodded and he pulled me to him again. "Wanna eat?"

"Yeah, I guess." I sniffed and wrapped my arms a bit tighter around his waist. "But before that, I need a bit of warmth."

He chuckled and put one of his hands on the back of my head. "Don't take all of my warmth away. K?" I chuckled too and closed my eyes, and we sat there in that position for a few minutes. Thunder and lightning still crashing outside against the strong weather, but I didn't mind anything right then.

I was enjoying too much of heaven.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_Aww...that chapter was cute, right? At least, I liked it...Shinichi really likes Ran! :3 Hoped you guys all liked it, too! Keep reading and Review!!! :D_


	23. Chapter 23

Saturday night. Shinichi's bathroom. 11 o'clock

It surprised me of how good Shinichi's cooking skills are. The dinner was really good.

But it has to be since he told me he's been working on it since 6 o'clock.

He made me lamb with noodles; a really delicious meal for a person who was almost scared half to death. He kept apologizing until we finally started eating and I started a new conversation.

"Why did your parents leave?" I asked and cut my lamb.

"My mom was asked to act in Hollywood." He said, chewing. "And I didn't want to go so my dad went with her."

"Why didn't you want to go?" I asked and put a piece of lamb in my mouth.

"Well, I want to have a steady life and live normally. And of course I don't want people to be like, 'your mom's the famous actress' and all that crap." He made a really strange face and I laughed.

"How are they now?" I cut another piece of lamb.

"Quite well, I think. They don't have to worry about anything so I'm guessing that they're pretty good." I nodded and he looked up at me across the table. "Why ask?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just wondering if there was something wrong, will they come back."

"Oi, oi. What are you thinking? You want to meet them or something?" He asked me with moon eyes and I stared back at him.

"Well, of course I do. We've been friends for so long and I still haven't met them. Isn't that a bit unfair?"

"How is it?' He leaned to the table. "Is there an important reason or something?"

"Hmph, I'm not gonna tell you even if there is." I made a small attitude and he kept on eating. But I wonder if he saw that slight red blush on my face that I tried to hide with my food.

A while later we finished dinner and I helped him clean up the dishes. He got a bit mad at that but I didn't care.

At about 9:00, we started the movie and I sat on the couch with a pillow in my arms. He sat on the floor next to me. It turned out that it was about some group of high-school students who were in a secret mission to find someone during their summer vacation, which must've sucked for them. I never knew what the name was since I forgot to ask but I guessed that it wasn't that important. Shinichi told me that he never saw it before and it was a friend who suggested it to him, they said that it was pretty funny and it really was, except for the part where the main character's girlfriend betrayed them when they think they almost found the person and the enemies got in their way.

But later in the story, it turned out that she came back and saved their lives from the enemy's trap and they got back together again. There was a point when the main character was so relieved, they started making out on the bed and my blood almost burst me in half. Shinichi's face was a bit red too, I didn't blame him.

The movie went on quite well and it ended where the chosen person is actually the main character, but he never knew. All ended really nice and school was about to start, and they all got ready for school again. The movie ended when the main character kissed his girl friend.

It was _indeed_ a pretty nice movie. I was laughing most of the time, Shinichi was chuckling too. When I stood up to stretch and do some moving, Shinichi asked, "Are you going to stay over for the night?"

I stopped moving and looked at him. "You _meant_ that?"

He took the CD out of the DVD player and looked at me. "What do you mean by '_meant'_?" And he placed the CD in the CD holder.

"Well, I never knew that you meant it when you said that I could stay over!"

"My parent's bed is still in their room and it's empty. You could sleep there."

"But I didn't know you meant it so I didn't bring my pajamas." He stood up and stared at me with half-moon eyes. Again.

"I'll lend you mine if you don't want to go back and get it." He said and walked over to the light switch. "Is a t-shirt and a pair of shorts okay?" And he turned it on.

I nodded sheepishly and he yawned. Then he walked towards the kitchen, probably to get something to drink. And I followed him.

But it turned out that he was walking towards the stairs up to his room, I climbed up with him. His house was indeed huge, it wasmuch bigger than mine, but it probably seemed like that because it was so empty; there was barely anything except for a few pictures on the walls and a few tables. There were some small tables with phones on them in some corners and against some walls; it seemed like there were two but there was probably another one in his room.

He showed me my room first and told me that whenever I want to come over, I can have it and I accepted it sheepishly. Then he walked half way down the hall and entered a room in the left. My estimation is that it's his. And indeed it was.

He came out with a white shirt and a pair of blue shorts. Then he led me to the bathroom and took out a few toothbrushes and towels, and placed them on the sink and turned to the bath.

"I have all the things in the shower if you want to take a bath. And there are a few clean towels on the cupboard. Will you need anything else?" He turned to me and looked a bit sleepy. I shook my head.

"No, that's good. Thanks, Shinichi." He nodded and walked out to his room, I walked to my own new one. I wonder if I'll still have this room if his parents come back.

I took my clothes off and changed into his. They were a bit loose but were still extremely comfortable; the shorts he gave me looked very cute on me, not to be bragging.

I walked quietly down the hall towards the bathroom which is just next to Shinichi's room, I wonder what his room looks like. I tried to tiptoe down the hall incase he was sleeping since it's already 11 o'clock and he looked very tired, but he didn't seem to have slept yet since he suddenly came out of his room and looked at me. To be more accurate, it seemed like he tripped on the door frame and tumbled out of the room. I jumped about a mile.

"Um, sorry." He said and scratched his head. "I tripped a bit." And tried to look away but looked back at me again. His eyes were big and his face was red.

_Extremely_ red.

"What?" I asked in curiosity and he shook his head.

"No—no, nothing." He looked away and headed downstairs. "I'll take the one downstairs if you're using this one." Then he started mumbling and I thought I heard a "Wow"...but I doubt so.

So I shrugged and went in the bathroom. Washing myself before I rest and cleared my head for the next day. And now I'm writing.

But now I'm sleepy and I feel drowsy so I guess I'll just go to sleep. I wonder if Shinichi has too.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_Great/sad news for you guys...Tomorrow's going to be the last two chapters for this story!! I'm not sure if it's good or bad news or not, so I'm going to make a :)( face. :P_

_Thanks for the ppl who've been reading this for all this time, I hope you're happy with it. Just one more day, and all your waiting will be gone!!! Okay, that was bad grammar. _


	24. Chapter 24 and Epilogue

Sunday morning. Shinichi's house.

This morning, I woke up quite early and found that it was only 7 o'clock. Shinichi's probably still sleeping right now.

I felt a bit afraid to take a shower and wake him up. He probably won't feel too happy. But I _really_ want to soak myself with water. So I had no choice.

To make it quiet and easy, I decided to take a bath and filled the tub with water. I brushed my teeth and woke myself up by a few curl ups, and when the tub was a bit over half-full, I turned the faucet off and stepped in the hot water. It felt _good_.

He had a few body moisturizers and it made me chuckle because I never knew that boys use that. But that must be a reason why he always looked so good. I dumped out a few drops of it and washed myself so _I_ looked good. After I soaked myself for a minute, I touched my skin and it felt so _smooth_. His skin was like that when I hugged him last night and he also smelled really good.

I wonder how he got himself in such good shape. He's skinny, but they're all muscles. He doesn't look like he had a _single_ fat in his body. He also _felt_ that way too. _I_'m skinny and I'm in good shape, but I'm a girl. Most of the boys who have muscles all look so big and puffy. Shinichi's totally the opposite, yet he looked so tough and strong.

Sonoko's like a stick. She's always been and she doesn't have a _really_ good grade in P.E, yet she's so _strong_. I wonder how she does that. Is it because of all the bag carryings in shops?

All the boys who chased me were either all skinny as a stick or as puffy as a big bear. They scare me. The only boy (who is also my only boy _friend_) who has a perfect body shape is Shinichi. He's like _perfect_.

Oh my gosh, what's wrong with me? Since when do I think my best friend is hot?

I don't know. Like, a couple of months ago?

Grr.

After a few minutes of wondering and washing, I heard a sound outside of the bathroom door and I froze.

_I forgot to lock the door_.

I slid deeper in the tub until the water reached up to my chin and I waited, hoping that Shinichi won't come in.

But it's already been about 20 minutes. Will he think that no one is _in_ the bathroom?

Oh, no.

But oh, yes.

I'm guessing that he didn't know that I was in here so he opened the door. His hand covering his mouth giving me a sign that he was yawning and his eyes were closed because of that.

Couldn't he feel the _heat_?

But I guessed he did since he opened his eyes suddenly and screamed. I yelled with him.

"Ah! Oh my god, I'm sorry!" He panicked and stepped back. But he didn't seem to have good balance (or the floor was slippery) since he suddenly fell backwards and landed with a thud. I rose a little out of the tub to look at him. He looked a bit unconscious. I'm guessing that he hit his head on the floor and is feeling pretty light-headed.

"Um, Shinichi?" I asked with a squeaky voice. "Are you okay?" He didn't answer.

Oh my gosh, did he faint?

I waited for a few seconds and he didn't make any movements. Definitely, he's knocked out. I was really worried so I reached out for the towel I took out next to the tub. I wrapped it around me and stepped out of the bath, drying my feet first before stepping on the bathroom floor. Then I walked over to Shinichi, who is now clutching his head with pain.

"Are you okay?" I asked again and he grunted. I cupped the back of his head so I could lift him up and cradled him in my arms. He was still holding his head.

"Hey, hey! Wake up. Stop scaring me again. Please?" He finally opened his eyes a bit. I felt the floor and indeed, it was still a bit wet because of the water that was evaporated and made thin layers of water on the floor. Then I looked back at him.

"Are you okay?" I asked for the last time. I was a bit tired of saying that over and over again. He nodded a little and I helped him sit up.

He was still in his pajamas—a white shirt like mine but with a pair of long pants instead of shorts—except he had his bathrobe on. They were blue. I looked worried and he still looked like he's hurting, but other than that, I'm pretty sure that he was okay.

"No, bruises, no worries." I teased and he looked at me, a bit smiling. Then I realized our status right now. We're in the bathroom, on the floor; I'm only covered with a thin layer of cloth around my body, my shoulders were still bare; my knees were behind his back to help him sit and one my hands were on the back of his head, one of his were on my other free hand; our faces were red.

And I felt like bursting.

He looked like he was about to, too.

We both pulled away at the same time and Shinichi suddenly stood up. Then he cursed and covered the back of his head again and I pulled the towel around me closer.

"I'll—go out." He said with a _very_ embarrassed face and walked slowly out the door. Once he got out, I immediately closed the door and leaned against it and sighed.

That's the bad thing about being friends with boys.

Sunday evening. My mom's room.

"How's the meeting?" I asked mom as she fumbled through her files to look at some papers.

"Good." She replied and pulled out a notebook from the stack. "Quite boring, I may say, but my boss told me that the business is going quite well." She scribbled something in her notebook. "Why ask?"

"Oh, I was just wondering if we'll be moving soon." I said and she stared at me through her glasses.

"And why do you think we'll be moving?" She set her pen down and turned to me. "You _want_ to move?"

"No! No! Absolutely no!" I panicked and she smiled a bit.

"No, dear." She responded quietly. "We won't be moving any time soon. Maybe after a couple of years, but don't you like this place?"

"Yes, mom, I love it." I said folded my hands on my laps. "It's just that, I love it _too_ much." My mom made a sound.

She leaned forward for my hand and grasped it tightly, then she looked at me square in the eye. "Is it because of Shinichi-Kun?" I blushed.

"Well," I said, "I…do like him…a bit." My mother chuckled.

"Oh, sweetie, don't be shy! If you like him, then just say it, there's nothing wrong about that." She put her other hand on my shoulder. "He _is_ quite a charming young man. I've never met anyone like him before." I blushed again. My mom leaned closer to me and whispered, "And I think that he likes you, too."

"What?! No, mom, no! Shinichi only likes me as a friend." I shook my head violently and she chuckled again.

"Well, if you say so, dearie, but if you miss him, you might not be able to get him back." She returned to her files and continued writing.

I stood up from her bed and stood next to her, taking a glimpse of what she was writing. After a few minutes, I lost interest.

"So, we won't be leaving?" I asked again and my mom shook her head lightly.

"As long as you don't make any troubles here." She said as I smiled.

"Oh, don't worry mom, I'll never make any trouble."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_*Sniff, sniff* I can't believe that my first fanfic is finished!!!!! As you can see, this time I updated two chapters at one time because I'm really busy and I don't have much time. I hoped you guys all liked it! Please read my other stories, too!!!!!! :D_


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